I've Dreamed of Legends
by baozito3
Summary: Five years ago, Master Hand of Smash Kingdom called together an elite group of fighters to protect the universe. Even though they differed from each other in many ways, the Smashers managed to join forces and fight with amazing success… until they were defeated and separated by an unstoppable force. Now, they finally receive one last chance to finish what they couldn't before.
1. Prologue

_Hey everyone! This is my first SSB fanfiction so I don't have much to say except enjoy! Of course, it would be great to receive feedback but it would be even greater if you guys like reading it. ^^_

* * *

Prologue

His screams fell on deaf ears as he watched the world collapse.

The entire forest around them was being uprooted and even the distant mountains shook. Space itself became warped and twisted, and pieces of debris whipped around killing all those who were not inside the portals. The once magnificent castle was reduced to splinters, and all of the nearby inhabitants have either fled or lie died on the ground.

He tried to step off the glowing disk but something, an invisible wall, was holding him back on all sides. He attempted to break it, but it stayed stubbornly intact, shielding him from all harm as black material engulfed the world outside. He could do nothing but watch. Watch and scream his horror until even he couldn't hear himself.

A tingling sensation was spreading throughout his body. It wasn't new to him; he knew exactly what was happening. He was going to teleported back to his own world. Usually, he went willingly, but not this time.

He won't be coming back. And he wasn't ready yet. No… no. He needed more time, needed to save everyone first.

_Let me out!_

He could see the faces of his friends. Some were crying. Others were pounding their fists helplessly against their own invisible prison. A few were attacking it with all that they had. Some lie still on their portal, not moving at all.

They were taken by surprise but that wasn't the complete reason for their downfall. No, the enemy was simply too strong and they hadn't expected it. It all happened too fast for comprehension; the castle walls were overrun by hundreds of primids and one by one, they were hunted out and struck down before they could regroup. And now, it was going to end.

Master Hand was still out there in the middle of the vortex, waving his fingers around, conjuring up the spell with the last of his strength. He knew what Master Hand was trying to do and he'd be damned if he'd just sit here and watched. He punched the walls until his hands bled, refusing to believe that he was losing feeling in his entire body for that meant that the portal was working and that he had only seconds left.

No… he could see himself starting to disappear. He could see his friends starting to disappear.

_No… no…_

How could it end like this?

Sudden despair enveloped his aching body and he crumpled to the ground, utterly and pathetically defeated. Never was there such crushing grief in his life. Never did he felt so void of hope. There had always, _always, _been some hope.

So just what had happened this time?

Just when he accepted that it was over, he lifted his head to get one last glimpse of this world. Smash Kingdom. He'll never be here again.

His last sight was of Master Hand, who, after seeing that his work was completed and that all the Smashers would be safe, now lay still on the ground.

He could still hear Master Hand's words.

_All of you, continue to carry on your own legends._

And then, he faded away in a flash of light as the outside world was sucked into its doom.


	2. Chapter 1

_Wow thanks for the reviews you guys! Here's the next chapter, enjoy!_

* * *

**Chapter one**

_The Prince of Altea gazed out of his window and smiled as he watched a flock of birds fly off into the distance. There was hardly a cloud in the sky and peace was returning to his country at last. He felt that he could finally relax and take a ride around without needing to take any guards with him, although his father would've disapproved. _

_Marth was just about to walk out of his room when he spotted something glowing out of the corner of his eye. The glowing got brighter and brighter and startled the prince who drew his sword as he watched. A small pendant emerged out of the air and floated, bobbling up and down, as if waiting for him to take hold. The metal glistened in a rainbow of colours in the afternoon sun. _

_Marth cautiously lowered his sword and walked up to it. It seemed harmless. A simple, strange design, a cross like shape, was engraved on the front. _

_The prince slowly reached out and closed his hand around it. Not even a second after he touched it, a circular disk took form on the ground beneath him and began glowing in a soft blue light. Marth didn't even have to cry out as he watched himself fade away._

* * *

As Marth gazed at the land of Altea from his balcony, a gust of wind blew past him. He closed his eyes and smiled. It was going to be a good day.

Not even a second after he thought that, a guard knocked on his door and entered.

"Prince Marth, the Greil Mercenary has returned," he announced giving a bow.

Marth's jaws dropped. "Are they at the gate?" he asked grabbing his cloak.

"Yes, sir."

"Great!"

Marth walked briskly into the castle hall and when he reached the courtyard, he broke into a run. He had been waiting for this for a really long time. The Greil Mercenary hardly ever stayed put in one place. They were always on the road, going wherever their jobs took them, and the last time they had stopped by in Altea had been more than a month ago.

Marth heard them before he saw them. He stopped running when he reached the gate and spotted his close friend tending to the horses.

"Ike!" Marth called out. The spikey haired warrior looked up to see him and his face broke into a grin.

"Hey, Marth!" he cried. "How's it going?" His sister, Mist, gave him a little slap on his head as she scolded him for addressing the prince in such a casual manner but he just laughed it off.

Marth greeted Mist and the others and then helped Ike lead the horses to the stables. "So where'd you go this time?" he asked eagerly.

"Helped rid a village of bandits," Ike replied. "Nothing much. Just the usual, I guess."

"Details, Ike," Marth chided. He was a bit envious of the freedom his friend possessed. Being a prince, Marth hardly ever got to leave Altea nowadays and when he did, he was always accompanied by dozens of soldiers and guards. Ike on the other hand, got to roam the kingdom and travel to places Marth couldn't even dream of.

As they fed and watered the horses, Ike described his trip and Marth listened with rapt attention. How he wished he could go on an adventure! By now, he hardly cared less about the danger and only yearned for thrill and excitement of a journey.

"How long are you staying in Altea this time?" Marth asked. Because they had such a good reputation and because their fathers became good friends, the Greil Mercenaries were always offered a place to stay at the castle whenever they stopped by.

Ike sighed. "Probably… probably only a few days."

Marth had to swallow his disappointment. "Only a few days?"

"Yeah… currently there're a lot of jobs."

"I… I see."

Ike smiled apologetically at him. "You know, when we were little, you never liked going out of the castle. Now, every time I see you, you're always either bombarding me with questions or trying to sneak out somehow."

"It's boring here," Marth huffed. He took out a brush and started scrubbing the horses down as Ike filled their trough with water from a bucket. "I'm tired of staying in the castle all day with no one but advisers and professors to talk to. I want to leave the city and travel into the woods! Climb a mountain! Fight something!"

"Fight something?" Ike raised an eyebrow in amusement.

"Bandits! Monsters! Anything!" Marth grinned when he saw a glint flash through Ike's eyes. "Just like... you know. Back then."

Ike smiled softly before putting down his bucket. He tossed Marth a broom. "You and your crazy sense of adventure… really, you haven't changed at all in these last few years," he mused, grabbing a rake for himself.

"That's not true," Marth said, putting down his brush. "I've gotten rusty. Everyone here at the castle doesn't fight seriously with me. It's no fun."

Ike didn't even give him a chance to prepare. One moment, he was still standing at the other side of the trough. The next, he had jumped over and was aiming the blunt end of the rake at Marth's head.

Marth stopped thinking. Adrenaline rushed through him as he dodged just enough for the rake to brush against his hair. He couldn't help his grin as he counter attacked, thrusting the broom like a spear. He missed Ike however, and ended up knocking over a stack of hay instead. Straws of hay exploded everywhere around the two swordsmen.

"Whoa Ike," Marth chuckled, turning around. "Didn't know we were so eager today."

"Well, you complained about being bored!" Ike said, blowing the hay out of his face. "Don't want to bore you now, do we, my prince?" The mercenary was smiling too, as he slowly drew closer, both his hands gripping the rake tightly.

"Ooh, getting serious now, are we?" Marth twirled the broom. It definitely wasn't as graceful as Falcion but it'll do.

"It's your fault. You said you've gotten rusty but you're still as good as before. I was about to make the mistake of going easy on you this time."

"Aw, but I am out of practice!" Marth teased. "Come on, let me win once, please?" The prince parried another blow to his face and pouted. "Ike, I would prefer to keep all my teeth. Can't you aim elsewhere?" He managed to get in a jab to the mercenary's side before backing off for him to regain his breath.

"Well, if you say so."

"Whoa!" Even though Ike took a hit, it didn't seem to affect him at all. He charged towards Marth and directed a kick at his chest. Marth ducked just in time as it smashed into the stable door behind him and broke a hole right through the wood.

Marth stared at Ike who stared back.

"Um… sorry about that," Ike said, slowly backing his foot out of the hole he made.

Marth blinked. "Nah, it's okay."

Ike scratched his head. "Man, last time I destroyed a window. This time, it's the stable door. Your dad's gonna kick us out soon."

Marth gave a small laughed. "Hey, it's not just you. I destroyed property many times, too. But I guess we should clean up now… and leave the fighting for later."

"Yup…"

They did their best with the half destroyed barn, sweeping up the hay and putting their "weapons" away.

"Do you still miss those days?" Marth could tell his question caught his friend by off guard. Heck, he even surprised himself. Marth knew he was bringing up a delicate subject that was probably best left alone but there was one else in Altea except Ike whom he could talk to about Smash Kingdom and sometimes, he just had to.

Ike hesitated. "You think it'd get easier after five years," He murmured. "But to tell you the truth, I still think of them every day."

Marth didn't need to answer for Ike to know that he felt the same way. He instead averted his gaze to the feeding animals.

It had been five years since they left Smash Kingdom for good. Five years had passed since they last saw their friends. Marth had tried to keep himself busy by involving himself in his country's politics but it seemed that no matter how much he hid, how much he tried to push it away, he could never forget his greatest defeat.

"Hey do you…" Marth hesitated. "Do you still think we'll get the chance to go back there again?"

Ike frowned.

The universe was made up of different worlds and the only way to travel to other worlds was through magical doorways called portals. That was how Master Hand had recruited Marth and Ike to his kingdom. Master Hand had taught them many things but they never learned how to control the portals.

"If we find some way to get our teleporters to work again, then I guess there's always the chance," Ike finally replied, fishing something out of his pocket. It was the pendant with the oddly shaped cross. After the war, they were sent back to their world. Ike and Marth had tried all that they could to find a way back to Smash Kingdom but to no avail. The little pendant had stopped working and they never got to find out what happened to everyone else or correct their greatest failure.

"Ike."

"Hmm? What is it?"

"If given the chance, would you still want to go back?" Marth asked. "I mean, it has been years and it really seems hopeless to want something so impossible. And it's safe here. We can go on with our lives peacefully."

Ike stared into Marth's blue eyes and for a while didn't speak. Then, Marth smiled inwardly when he saw a tiny twinge of annoyance flicker over the mercenary's face.

"Of course I need to go back," Ike replied. "You should know that I would take the first chance I get. Yeah, it's dangerous but how can I live with myself knowing that I left things like _that_? I can't_._"

Marth stared at him for a while and suddenly gave a small laugh. The mercenary would never change. But that was what he liked about him. "Let's go grab some food," Marth said locking up the stable doors. "Then I'll tell you what I've been up to."

Ike blinked in surprise and before he could say anything, the sudden sound of a warning trumpet blasted through the air. He raised his eyebrows in surprise at the sudden commotion from inside the castle.

"What's going in?" he asked.

"I don't know," Marth answered slowly. "Follow me." He took off towards the castle throne room with Ike close behind. A few guards ran past them, panicking, and he stopped one of them.

"Hey, what's going on?" Marth cried.

The guard saw his face and spluttered, "Pr-Prince Marth! The Shield of Seals has been stolen! It's gone!"


	3. Chapter 2

_I realized that because of the five year time difference, the characters would've aged. For most of them, it shouldn't be too big of a difference but for characters such as Lucas and Ness who are growing kids, five years is a lot. In this story, they'll a bit older than they are in the game, probably around fourteen or so. In the flashbacks, they're nine. Same with Nana and Popo. For the sake of simplicity, I won't give the other characters a definite age._

_Ok enjoy!_

* * *

**Chapter two**

_Lucas had to swallow back his panic. One minute ago, he was just watching TV. In the next moment, he decided to touch the little floating token that had appeared out of nowhere and now, he somehow ended up in the middle of a large stadium of some sort with a bunch of other weird people. …Some of them weren't even human. Beside him stood a pink puffball, staring at him oddly._

"_W-what's going on?" Lucas tried asking it._

_The creature shook his head. "I dunno."_

"_Y-you can talk!"_

"_So can you."_

_Lucas looked around. There must've been at least twenty others here and more were appearing by the minute. He almost jumped out of his skin when a portal opened up right beside him and a fox wearing a gray jacket and green pilot uniform walked out shaking his head and muttering, "I knew I shouldn't have picked it up…"_

_Lucas stood around helplessly for a bit more, not knowing what to do. Some people had tried to walk off the arena but found out that some invisible wall was keeping them in. Others were starting cautious conversations._

"_I'm Kirby."_

_Lucas looked down at the speaker in surprise. The round pink thing was staring at him expectantly. _

"_Oh, uh… I'm, uh, Lucas."_

"_Well hello, Uhlucas. What a weird name."_

"_No, no, it's just Lucas."_

"_Lucas? Hmm… still a weird name."_

_Even he was scared, Lucas decided that this Kirby wasn't a bad guy. It seemed that no one knew what was going on either, so they decided to just wait. They had just struck up a conversation about how they got here when a loud crashing noise came from their right and something went flying into the air. It crashed into a small cluster of people, and they all scattered apart. The blue bird picked himself up and let out a fierce snarl, glaring at yet another large bird like creature, his blue eyes glinting through his eyepiece._

"_You picking fight, Tubby?"_

"_That's what you get for calling me fat!"_

"_Oh no," Kirby muttered beside Lucas. "King Dedede…"_

_Before Lucas could ask who he was, the more deadlier looking bird whipped out a- was that a gun? - and charged at his challenger. Lucas was certain that the penguin would end up dead in two seconds but it suddenly took out a big wooden hammer and brought it down with so much force Lucas could feel his hair being blown back from where he stood._

_Almost immediately, more chaos broke lose. A blond elf wearing a green cap was helping up his female friend who had been knocked over by their fight. He turned to the two, still grappling, looking furious and drew his sword despite the woman's protests. A blue haired swordsman quickly got into his way, smiling weakly, and saying, "Hey now, let's calm down…" but the blond only took it as a challenge and the other swordsman had to draw his sword in order to defend himself._

"_Marth!" A panicked yell came from a man wearing a bandana. He shoved some people aside and also charged into the fight, and surprised the elf with a punch. Meanwhile, the fox Lucas saw earlier was trying to pull the bird off the penguin._

"_No, don't hurt him!" the female elf waved her hand and the newcomer was blasted away by a ripple of magic. She looked just as surprised as the swordsman, Marth, did as the bandana man was hurled into the ground._

_Other fights had broken out around the arena. Lucas stared, gaping, as a monkey threw exploding peanuts at a blue blur (it was going too fast for him to get a good look) and two rather deadly kids whacked at a giant yellow and green shelled beast with hammers. Kirby stood beside him shook his head and muttered about how immature those idiots were. He did intervene once though. When a wolf-like figure stumbled too close for comfort, Kirby sent him flying back into the fighting mob with a lightning fast kick. Lucas decided to stick beside him like glue. _

"_Lucas, is that you?" Lucas whirled around to see a familiar boy wearing a red cap holding a baseball bat running up to him._

"_Ness?" he cried incredulously. "What're you doing here?"_

_Ness shrugged. "Same reason as you, I suppose, though I never expected to see you here!"_

"_What… what're you doing with your baseball bat?" Ness was Lucas' friend back in his hometown and Lucas knew just how much damage the black haired boy could do with his favourite weapon._

_Ness grinned. "Just in case anyone wants to pick a fight," he answered. "I've already gave a few a good whacking." He had just seen Kirby when he, and the rest of them there, were interrupted by a sudden loud booming sound. The scuffles broke apart in shock as everyone looked up to see where it was coming from. _

"_Greetings, Smashers," A voice came from the huge flat screen in the front of the stadium. A huge white hand was on the screen. "Welcome to Smash Kingdom!"_

_Kirby blinked. "Smashers?"_

"_It was I who called all of you here." _

"_Who are you?" called out a brown-haired man with feathered wings protruding from his back. He was still clutching at the collar of a rather beat up looking man wearing suspenders and a green hat._

"_You may call me Master Hand."_

"_Why have you brought us here?" A tall woman wearing a tight blue uniform stepped forward, still clutching her gun._

"_Hmm…I'll start at the beginning if all of you would settle down and listen."_

_A silence followed his proposal. Then, with some muttering of cuss words and distrusting glares, the fighters all lowered their arms and walked a safe distance away from each other._

_Master Hand sighed appreciatively. "I should've expected this to happen…" he muttered. "You're all such excitable youngsters after all."_

_He cleared his throat and began to explain. "Now I'm sure you all noticed that you've never seen each other before. That's completely normal and nothing to fret over, for you don't belong to the same world. Perhaps you did now know this but the universe is made up of different worlds. Some of you came with others from your world while others have come by themselves."_

_Lucas frowned. Different worlds… He had heard something about that from a storybook his mother used to read to him and his twin brother. Lucas had always thought it was just a story. _

"_In order to travel to different worlds, you must go through portals. All of you have just been teleported here through a portal from your own world. Do not fret," Master Hand continued when cries of shock rose from the crowd. "With the teleporters in your hands, you can return to your own worlds in the blink of an eye. I will send you back after you hear out for what reason I've brought you here."_

* * *

"PK fire!"

A small condensed burst of flames came at Lucas from the right. He quickly rolled out of the way and looked up at his attacker. Ness had leaped into the air and was coming down towards him with his baseball bat. Lucas sucked in his breath and raised his hands.

"PK freeze!" he yelled, as snowflakes appeared above him. Ness blocked the move with his bat and jumped back.

Lucas considered using PK fire again but thought against it. Ness was too close and could counter with his own PK fire, which could reach him. Lucas charged instead. He was fast, and caught Ness by surprised but the older boy quickly let go of his bat and parried Lucas' punch. Ness sent a right hook but Lucas dodged and aimed a kick towards his feet. They grappled for a while until they both ended up exhausted, with no clear winner this time.

"Ah, ok, I think we should stop for now," Ness panted. "You've really gotten better, Lucas."

The blond boy smiled. "Really? Thanks!" He picked up Ness' bat and handed it to him.

They trained in the hills of Onett regularly since there were not a lot of disruptions there and it was a good fighting ground. After years of hard work, Ness and Lucas have managed to improve, not just their PSI powers but also their combat skills. Lucas could even beat Ness in a round sometimes, and he was terribly proud of that.

As they walked back to town, Lucas saw his friend fiddling with the pendant he always kept in his pocket. It was circle shaped with an asymmetrical cross in the front. He had one too. It used to be a magical object that could teleport its holder to different worlds and in the past, Lucas and Ness used to travel away from Eagleland to other worlds completely different from theirs, namely a world called Smash Kingdom. They haven't been going anymore though. Or it was more like they couldn't. The teleporting device had stopped working ever since…

Ness saw Lucas staring at the little ornament. "Sorry," he said. "I tend to play with it still sometimes."

Lucas nodded. He understood. For the last five years, he also had kept his token in his pocket, waiting for the moment when it was going to glow again. It never did, though. No matter how hard he wished.

_There must be some other way to travel worlds_, Lucas thought. He had pondered on the subject countless times before. The solution was yet to be found, is all.

As they walked through the woods, Lucas suddenly spotted the afternoon light reflect off something to his right and pulled Ness to a stop.

"Ness, what's that?" Lucas asked gesturing to the object. The two of them approached it cautiously.

It appeared to be a shield. It was beautifully carved. A strange design was engraved on the front and it was studded with different coloured jewels that glimmered in the light. As he stared in awe, Lucas felt a chill suddenly creep down his back. The shield wasn't… natural. It shouldn't be there.

Ness hesitated, then reached out and felt the smooth metal. "Maybe someone dropped it here," he said, picking it off the forest floor.

"Ness," Lucas whispered, feeling excitement rise in him. "That shield doesn't look like something from our world…"

Ness' eyes slowly widened. He suddenly jumped and grabbed Lucas' arm. "Lucas! What's that sound?"

Lucas heard it too. A strange rustling noise, like an army moving through the forest, was coming two or three hills away from them. The rumbling grew closer and closer until Lucas the ground began to tremble. A sudden load roar rippled through the air, making them both jump. Whatever beast made it was coming closer. Ness and Lucas stared at each other but before they could say or do anything, they were attacked.

Surprise does not even begin to describe how Lucas felt when he saw the hordes of robots appear from the forest.

Ness' eyes widened. "What? Holy- no way!"

Lucas remembered the last time he saw primids. It had been in Smash Kingdom when the little fiends had invaded and began the biggest battle he's ever seen. Seeing them again sent a chill from his neck down to his toes and he could see the shock and disbelief on Ness' face.

They shouldn't exist in Eagleland. Just what where they doing at Onett Town?

The primids had red eyes like a robot's. They didn't speak and instead communicated through expressions and gestures. Even without knowing what they were saying, Lucas somehow knew that they were after the shield and hundreds of them were closing in fast.

Ness suddenly moved and Lucas realized they both had been frigid still in shock. The older boy shoved the shield into his arms, stepped in front, and took his fighting stance.

"Lucas, take the shield out of here and hide it," he ordered.

Lucas blinked. "What?" he exclaimed. "And leave you to handle these guys? Ness, you can't defeat hundreds of them!"

"I won't!" Ness promised. "I'll just buy you some time to get away. We can't let them have the shield. It's somehow connected to these guys… I think it could be a clue on how to return to Smash Kingdom!"

Lucas swallowed. "But Ness…"

"Don't talk now, go!"

Before Lucas could take a step, a sudden thundering noise came from deep within the forest. The primids stopped and turned. Another deep roar pounded through his ears and Lucas jolted in horror. What could possibly be coming?

Ness turned to him, panic flickering in his eyes. "_Lucas, go!"_

It was too late. A monster broke into the clearing, crashing through the trees and killing several primids in its wake. His beady eyes glared around from under his mask and locked on the shield. It roared and his entire robot body shook as he stood up on his hind legs. The primids all scrambled out of the way in fear of being trampled over and took cover behind him.

Lucas and Ness gaped in shock. "H-how?" Ness whispered, his arms dropping. "Why is _he_ here?"

The last time they saw Galleom had been when he had been defeated by the Smashers in the final battle for Smash Kingdom. Galleom should be dead now and yet… he stood menacingly as ever, looming over them just like he did before.

"Someone repaired him," Lucas whispered.

How was Galleom still alive? And how he and the primids come to Eagleland? Why were they were after this strange shield? Lucas' head swam in confusion but just when he felt his panic about to overcome him, and he looked over and saw Ness. The older boy hadn't backed off an inch at the sight of Galleom and instead looked ready to take him on.

Lucas pretended he didn't notice his own legs trembling.

"Ness, I'm definitely not leaving now," he said walking up beside his friend. "You can't fight Galleom alone." Ness looked like he wanted to argue but then decided against it.

"Alright then let's beat this thing," Ness growled. "We did it once before, we can do it again."

Lucas couldn't help but think that they had all of their friends with them last time and before he could concentrate, Galleom attacked. Despite the robot being so huge, it was startling fast. It leaped towards them and rammed itself into them head on. Lucas and Ness dodged to opposite sides just in time before they were crushed. As if they rehearsed it, they both turned to face Galleom and yelled, "PK Fire!"

Galleom roared when he was hit with the burst of flames but he seemed more angry than injured. His eyes scanned from Lucas to Ness as they ran about at his feet.

"Distract it!" Ness yelled.

Lucas ran right up to Galleom and raised his hands. "PK Freeze!" The ice fully encased one of the robot's feet and started climbed up his leg. As Galleom angrily tried to break the ice, Ness propelled himself above the robot's head.

"PK Fire!" He shot a stream of fire downwards at Galleom's head and it exploded on contact, blasting the robot backwards. Ness followed up on his attack with a swing from his baseball bat. It collided with Galleom's nose and gave it a good sized dent. Galleom roared in fury and swung his arms around wildly, trying to catch his two quick attackers. Lucas managed to dodge him but Ness, who was still in the midst of falling, was hit by one of his wild lunges.

"Ness!" Lucas yelled as he watched his friend fly into the trees behind them. Ness groaned and half tumbled, half jumped back onto the ground.

"I'm fine-_ watch out_!"

Lucas turned but not in time. Galleom's huge fist came down and grabbed him, swiping him off his feet.

At once, Lucas couldn't move. He couldn't even breathe. He was being squeezed so hard he felt that he was turning into jelly. Galleom lifted Lucas close to his face. He could feel his heat rolling off the robot and smell its smoke and grease. Lucas shrunk back in terror, refusing to meet Galleom's eyes. The robot suddenly threw his head back and let out a sound that was a mixture of a throaty roar and a shriek. Lucas realized that the monster was laughing.

Galleom let out a growl. "_YOU… YOU!"_

_W-what? _Lucas forced his eyes open and stared at the hideous robot. Was it talking?

"W-why are you here?" he choked out. "…What do you want?"

Lucas could hear Ness desperately attacking the enemy below him. Galleom let out an irritated sound and lifted his feet, trying to step on the black haired boy. Ness rolled to one side and shot a fireball at the giant foot. When a part of it fell off, Galleom growled in anger and swiped Ness up with his other hand.

"_YOU… YOU TOO."_

Lucas watched Ness struggling helplessly in the giant's grip. He could feel himself growing weaker and weaker under the pressure, as he lost more of his strength.

"How did you get here?" Ness yelled at Galleom.

Galleom wheezed and grunted in amusement as he watched the two in his grasps. "_YOU… YOU COME WITH ME."_

_What?_

Before Lucas could even think what he meant by that, Galleom lumbered over to where the shield laid. The primids had already picked it up and two of them were carrying it.

"No…" Ness cried. "Don't take it!"

Galleom laughed hoarsely. "_YOU COME WITH US,"_ he yelled.

Panic jolted through Lucas' mind and his heart began hammering in his chest. _Where are we being taken?_

After Galleom saw that everything was ready, he nodded and something started to glow on his chest. Lucas suddenly noticed the little pendant with a cross attached to his metallic body.

It was a teleporter! And it was glowing!

Ness cried out in surprise. He had seen it too.

"Where did you get that?" Ness yelled. Galleom merely laughed. Ness clenched his teeth together and said again in a strained voice, "Tell me. Where you got that."

Galleom threw back his head in glee and howled, "_THE MASTER! THE MASTER WILL RETURN!" _

The portal shimmered to existence before them and Lucas could do nothing but watch, partially in awe and partially in fear.

It was the portal.

It was exactly as how he remembered it, a flat glowing disk on the ground, just wide enough for a couple of people to stand on. The primids started disappearing into it in groups of twos and threes as Galleom stood and watched. He seemed to be taunting his two helpless opponents as they waited for their turn. As Lucas watched powerlessly, the ones carrying the shield stepped in and also vanished.

Wherever they were heading, it couldn't be good. Lucas struggled against his captor in vain, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't focus enough to activate his PSI powers. He was in so much pain he could hardly think. And he was scared.

"PK THUNDER!"

Galleom let out a cry of surprise when electricity shot through his hand and up his arm. He quickly let go of Ness who dropped lightly to the ground. His entire body crackled with sparks of energy and flashes of electricity danced at his fingertips as the boy turned around to face his opponent. It had been a long time since Lucas saw Ness so angry. Ness glared at Galleom, his eyes full of hatred, as he calmly took out his baseball bat.

"Let Lucas go!" he yelled, charging forward.

Lucas watched the fight before him powerless to help. He cursed himself and his own weakness. Why couldn't _he_ find the strength to break free? Why was _he_ always the one that needed saving? He quickly choked back the hot tears of frustration. It was _always _like this. The times when he needed to be strong the most were when he couldn't do anything at all.

It was clear Galleom had the upper hand. Ness, exhausted from the long battle, was moving slower and for a while, all he could do was dodge Galleom's attempts to snatch him again. And he was running out of time. All Galleom had to do was step in the portal to disappear and sooner or later, he might just give up on fighting and do that. It seemed that Ness realized that too. As Lucas watched, the older boy quickly dropped his bat and rolled behind Galleom.

"PK Fire!" he cried, aiming a short distance bomb towards the robot's feet. It caught Galleom by surprise and he hopped around to rid himself of the flames.

Ness retreated to a safe distance from Galleom's wild movements and dropped to one knee. For a while, he didn't move and instead stood, still as a rock. Lucas gasped when he realized what Ness was planning and held his breath in anticipation. The move didn't always succeed, and if it failed, it would deplete its user of all his energy.

"PK…" Ness' eyes started glowing and he began rising off the ground. "…_STARSTORM!"_

At first, nothing happened. Then, a brief flash of light appeared in the sky, soon followed by numerous others. The sky lit up with flashes and they grew bigger and bigger until they smashed down towards the ground and into Galleom's surprised face. The beast roared in pain as he was continuously pounded by stars, and quickly dropped Lucas in order to better defend himself.

Ness, still floating in the air, flew over and caught Lucas and set him down gently. The blond boy panted and gasped for breath.

"N-Ness you did!" Lucas whispered in awe as he watched the meteorite shower reduce the robot to pieces. "Ness, you- Ness?"

The older boy suddenly fell over the second they touched the ground. Lucas grabbed his arm and slowly sat him up. Ness groaned and clutched his head in his arms, too weak to focus, after expending all of his energy on his greatest attack. Now that he had succeeded, it drained him of whatever little energy he had left, leaving him completely exhausted and vulnerable.

Galleom however, had been reduced to a mess. Half of the robot's armor had been blasted off and one of his arms was broken in two, its circuits sizzling and breaking down. The surviving primids around them were thrown into confusion, running over each other, trying to enter the portal. Lucas thought the fight was over but Galleom wasn't completely defeated yet. The large robot could still function and he now looked over to them with absolute fury behind his mask.

"_YOU!"_ he thundered, running straight for Ness and Lucas. _"YOU WILL DIE!"_

Lightning fast, he grabbed them both again and stepped onto the portal. Lucas didn't even have the time to cry out before he felt a tingling sensation through his body.

He had almost forgotten the feeling of leaving a world. It had always excited him before when he was still a Smasher but he didn't know where he was going this time. The portal was taking effect and in a few seconds, he will be teleported to who knows where.

Ness. His friend was still beside him, squeezing his eyes shut and clutching to his arm like a lifeline. Lucas had to save him at least.

Eagleland was becoming distorted and everything was growing dark. He had to hurry… He closed his eyes and concentrated.

"PK Thunder!" A strong shock of electricity made Ness jump and Lucas whispered an apology. The attack forced Galleom's grip on them to loosen for a second and that was all Lucas needed to pull Ness free. Despite his condition, Ness seemed to realize what was happening. Their eyes met for a second and he seemed to have understood.

With a small push, Lucas moved Ness away, and he floated out of his reach in the portal.

Lucas thought he heard Ness yell something but he couldn't quite make it out. His voice sounded very far away. The feeling was already seeping away in his body and a second later, Lucas couldn't even see anymore. The only sensation he could feel was that he was falling. Falling. Further and further into a black, empty, oblivious void.


	4. Chapter 3

_Thank you everyone for the reviews!_

* * *

**Chapter three**

_When Link returned home, he lay on his bed and stared at the teleporter. It shimmered in different colours as he turned it in his hand. This was crazy._

_That Master Hand had just proposed the craziest thing._

_He said that he was making something called a Smash Tournament, in which fighters from different worlds gathered at Smash Kingdom to fight and compete for glory and riches. It was supposedly nothing more than a friendly contest._

_The tournament starts in a month," Master Hand had said. "I will give you three days to think my offer over. If you have any questions, feel free to come back here and talk to me by using your teleporters. You are my Smashers, my chosen ones. I beg you, consider my offer and in three days or less tell me your decision."_

_Some of the others had still looked confused. Some seemed weary. Others looked interested. Link himself still wasn't sure what to think. Zelda had been brought there with him and Link was surprised to see Ganondorf there as well, standing on the other side of the stadium. No one made their decision on the first day and Master Hand had teleported them back home. _

_Link sat up abruptly and held the pendant at arm's length. "Take me back to Smash Kingdom," he said._

_To his surprise, the pendant began glowing and Link felt himself starting to disappear. When he opened his eyes again, he was back on the huge stadium, alone this time. He looked up to the big screen. Master Hand was there._

"_Link," Master Hand greeted him._

_Link hesitated. "Um, hey," he said, unsure of what to do. He did have a few questions but was now having second thoughts now that he was here._

"_You've come back quickly," Master Hand mused. "What is it that I can do for you?"_

"_This isn't all there is to it, right?" Link startled himself with his bluntness. "I mean, why would you use so much effort on gathering together individuals from different worlds just to hold a tournament?"_

_Master Hand chuckled. "You're not the first to be having doubts about this," he said. "Your friend Zelda and a few others had arrived before you and asked me the same thing. Very well, Link. I will tell you my true intentions. I wish to create a team of elites called the Smashers who would join together and fight against enemies that would threaten the universe if any would appear."_

"_E-evils that could threaten the universe?" _

"_For the most time, you can come and go in Smash Kingdom as you please. I pray with all my heart that no such evil will rise but I'm afraid I have been having an uneasy feeling that it will not be the case. Link, you are known as a hero in your own world. I know you do not have it in your heart to refuse help to others. Help protect this kingdom and you will be known as a hero here and in other worlds as well. Come. Become a Smasher."_

* * *

Princess Zelda had a weird dream. That was all she told Link after abruptly waking him up before running off by herself towards the Lost Woods in the dead of night.

"There's someone there," Zelda insisted, when Link tried to stop her. Link knew that Zelda could see the future but sometimes, she couldn't make clear predictions. Nonetheless, it had been a long time since he saw her this agitated.

"Wait, so who did you see?" Link asked as they traveled on horseback across Hyrule field. Instead of trying to stop the princess, Link decided to accompany her.

Zelda frowned. "I don't know," she admitted. "It was a person. And he was asleep on the ground. Just outside of what looked like the Lost Forest. The vision came very suddenly. It… it's important, Link. I can feel it…"

Link nodded. "Of course, Princess," he said. "We'll go check it out."

Zelda gave him a grateful look and they hurried on.

They reached the forest quickly. Being so close to the Lost Forest, especially at night, made Link wary. It wasn't exactly a happy place. He had almost gotten lost in there before and he's heard terrible stories of what would happen if you did. Link and Zelda stopped and got off their horses and tied them to a tree.

"Should we split up to look for anyone here?" Zelda suggested.

"I think we should stick together, Princess," Link said. He didn't want to lose sight of Zelda in the dark.

Zelda saw him worrying and gave him a small smile. "Link, if it's me you're worried about, don't. Really, I'll be fine. You think I can't protect myself?"

"No, it's not that," Link answered hastily.

"Then I'll meet you back here in a while," Zelda said gently but firmly. "I'll look over on this side."

She summoned an orb of light with her hand and rushed off quickly and Link hesitated, wondering if he should head after her. He finally thought against it and took off the other way, making sure he stayed in earshot of her. Zelda seemed to really want to find whoever this was. The sooner they looked around, the better.

Link held his torch above his head and scanned the bushes and trees. He had no idea what this person would look like or why he would sleep right outside of the Lost Forest alone.

"Hello?" Link whispered uncertainly. "Anyone here?"

He hadn't gone far when he heard Zelda calling his name.

"Link! Link!" Her voice sounded strangled. Link's heart leaped and he sprinted in her direction.

"Zelda?" he yelled, whipping out his bow. "Where are you?"

"Link, I'm here!"

He eventually found her by a tall gnarled tree, kneeling by a small figure. She looked up when she spotted him coming and Link saw the shock in her eyes.

"Link," she whispered, shaking her head in disbelief. "I… I… oh, Link…"

"What happened?" Link asked, approaching her. He tried to calm her down by placing a hand on her arm. "Zelda, are you alright?"

Zelda tried to say something but then merely nodded. Link looked over to the figure sleeping on the ground. It was too dark for him to make out the face but he felt a strange feeling creeping up his spine. Link's heart thudded as he crept closer. That person didn't look familiar. Those shoes… those clothes… they weren't from Hyrule, that's for sure.

That red baseball cap…

Link backed up in disbelief as flashes of memories pulsed through his mind.

The old kingdom, the tournaments, the laughter, the destruction… Link remembered it all with vivid detail. The final battle… and then the aftermath of it, in which he thought he would never see _them_ again. He remembered watching as the world he loved got destroyed. He remembered watching them disappear too, before his very eyes, after calling and reaching out to them in vain. He remembered holding Zelda as she cried for days after they had returned and how even Ganondorf seemed to share their pain. He remembered giving up all hope… until now.

As Link and Zelda watched on in a daze, there lay Ness, asleep on the ground as if he had been waiting for them.

* * *

When Ness woke, he felt as if he's strained every muscle in his body. He groaned and tried to sit up but couldn't find the strength to. Ness instead looked around. He was on a comfortable bed in a large room that had a really tall window on one side. There was a carpet on the stone floor and a fireplace in the wall opposite to the window.

…Where the heck was he? Was there an ancient-looking castle like this in Eagleland? Not one that he could remember.

Someone had bandaged up his wounds for him. Ness sat up gingerly and rubbed his temple as he tried to remember what happened. He straightened up immediately when he did.

Lucas! Where was he? Did they both end being teleported to wherever Galleom had planned to take them?

Ness scanned the room again trying to think of which world he could possibly be in. It didn't exactly look like Smash Kingdom. Yes, Master Hand used to reside in a castle but the design was more modern than this. His castle control room had technology and machinery that was even better than Eagleland's. Ness looked out the window for sky arenas, the places where tournaments used to be held. There was nothing except wisps of clouds in the sky. He could see a large beautiful meadow in the distance and a busy village right below the castle. So if this wasn't Smash Kingdom, where was he?

Ness stepped out of the bed and walked around. He didn't seem to have broken any bones during his fight. That was good. He grabbed his cap which was beside his pillow and walked towards the door, determined to find Lucas. Just as he reached it, the doorknob turned and someone walked in.

At first, Ness thought it would be Lucas, but his jaws dropped when he got a better look. The other person also seemed surprised when he saw Ness at the door. They stared at each other as Ness took in the man's blond hair, blue eyes, and green cap.

No way…

Despite his grim situation, Ness felt his face slowly breaking into a huge grin.

"Link!" he exclaimed. "Wh-what? How?"

"Hey, Ness!" Link cried, laughing. He opened his arms as Ness rammed into him with a fierce hug. Link patted his head and laughed softly when he heard him crying.

Ness heard some footsteps coming from down the hall. As he looked up, he felt someone's hand on his shoulder and heard a female voice. "My, my, who do we have here?"

Ness froze and looked up at the familiar voice in shock. "Zelda?" he whispered in disbelief. "Zelda!"

The Hyrulian princess fell to her knees and eagerly pulled him into her arms. She ended up crying too, and laughing through her tears.

"Oh, Ness," Zelda sobbed. "It's so good to see you."

"M-me too! It's so good to see you too- ow, ow, my ribs!"

"O-oh, sorry," Zelda cried.

She quickly loosened her grip him as he said he was fine. Ness went on rambling about how he had no idea what was going on and Zelda was just beginning to tell him how they found him sleeping by the Lost Forest when Link, laughing, suggested for them to sit on chairs instead of on the ground. Ness asked if Toon Link was around too but Zelda said that the young elf had gone on a quest and probably won't be back for a while. Link then brought Ness some food which he wolfed down as he told them his story. Zelda and Link listened quietly.

"Galleom appeared?" Link said, clearly in shock.

"Yeah, and he… he took Lucas. We couldn't stop him and he ended up taking Lucas." Ness looked down and Zelda gently took his hand.

"You don't know where they went," she whispered.

Ness shook his head. "I… I thought they would be here. Or actually, I'm not sure why I'm here. I don't know why Galleom would want to teleport here."

"Or maybe…" Link frowned. "You ended up here but the others didn't. You said Lucas pushed you away in the portal? You must've fallen through a certain space and ended up traveling to Hyrule instead."

Zelda's eyes widened. "That could be possible," she said. "Master Hand always told us to not move while in the portal. And in my dream, Ness, I didn't foresee Lucas, Galleom or any primids. I only saw you."

Ness listened silently. "So we were separated after all…"

Link took a breath and gently looked the younger boy in the eye. "If I had to guess, Lucas was taken back to Smash Kingdom. After all, that's where Galleom lives. It's the world he came from."

Ness nodded. "That's true. Except… I don't know why he wanted Lucas and me… and why did he chose to attack now? And how did he get the ability to use the teleporter? There's so much I don't understand…"

Zelda was at a loss too. The princess didn't speak for a while and stared hard at the table.

"Wait," Zelda said suddenly. "You guys… do you think this is all to revive Tabuu?"

Just saying the name was enough to send a chill down Ness' spine. Link's face paled drastically. Tabuu was the strongest foe they had ever encountered and he always been Master Hand's greatest enemy.

And it was all because of him that Smash Kingdom was destroyed. Five years ago, when the Smashers learned of his existence, he had already built up an army and it was too late to stop him.

"Ness, you said Galleom had a teleporter with him right? Perhaps somehow, his followers have learned Master Hand's secret on how to use the portals and are now using it to their advantage. They could now threaten not just Smash Kingdom but other worlds too. Maybe they're trying to find a way to bring Tabuu back now that they have access to otherworldly powers."

"No way…" Link whispered slowly. "But… there's no way Master Hand's strongest spell can be broken… Tabuu should be sealed behind that door in subspace forever."

"…You're… probably right," Zelda said, nodding slowly.

Ness was frowning. "No… now that you mention it, I remember Galleom saying something like how 'the master will return' during our fight. They might not succeed in freeing Tabuu but they're trying."

"Link, I think we should tell Ganondorf about this."

The elf looked at his princess, surprised. Ness cocked his head. It was true that Ganondorf was a Smasher like them, but…

"I don't think he'd help, Zelda," Link admitted.

"Ganondorf?" Ness said. He's always had mixed feelings about that man. Ganondorf did help fight the Smasher's common enemy but he was hard to get along with and never seemed to care for the others. He's also heard stories of the times Link and Zelda had to defend Hyrule from him. "He's your enemy, right?"

"Yes," Zelda answered. "But I think he has a right to know about what's happening…"

"But we're not even sure ourselves yet."

"We're not really on bad terms with him right now," Zelda said slowly. "And I think if he listened to Ness' story, he could help…"

When the other two didn't immediately object, Zelda continued. "Besides, we're just telling him our theory. It's not like he can do much knowing this. He can't travel worlds any more than we can."

"…He's probably residing in his tower right now," Link said slowly. "I could travel there tomorrow-"

"Oh, no need Link," Zelda said quickly. "I'll message him telepathically."

* * *

After asking Ganondorf to come to the outskirts of town to meet them and he agreed, Zelda, Link and Ness hurried across the market and waited by the river. Ness stared at everything with interest, even the trees and the plains. He told the other two about his world that had buildings made of wood and painted with paint. The houses had electricity which provided the heat and they had computers and television. Half of it, Link didn't quite understand.

"What kind of a shop is that?" Ness asked, pointing into the distance.

"It's the blacksmith's shop."

"So he makes the weapons?" Ness gaped as he watched the man pound at a sword with iron.

Zelda chuckled. "Yes, swords, among other metallic objects." She suddenly blinked and looked around the meadow. "Ganondorf just messaged me. He should be here."

"I am here."

Link whirled to his right and saw the huge man in armor that appeared out of nowhere. Even though Ganondorf was not posed to attack, Link had to resist the urge to draw his sword out. They hadn't fought in a long time but thief still and always will make Link uneasy. Ganondorf walked up to them and lifted one eyebrow in surprise when he saw Ness.

"So you were right, Zelda," he said. "A Smasher came." He nodded at Ness who hastily bowed back in surprise.

"Yes," Zelda said. "Link and I found Ness yesterday night in the woods. He got teleported to Hyrule by accident when he and Lucas were attacked by Galleom."

"Galleom?" Ganondorf narrowed his eyes. "How did Galleom manage to find them?"

"He had a teleporter that worked with him. It took him out of Smash Kingdom and to Eagleland. Ganondorf, I will go straight to the point. We think that Tabuu might be rising again. We need your help."

"Tabuu? He's rising again?" Ganondorf sounded genuinely shocked. He didn't blink once as he listened to what Ness had to say. After Ness finished, they all stood in silence waiting for his response.

The tall sorcerer suddenly scoffed. "And how may I offer my help?" he asked. "I am as helpless as all of you since we can't even get to where Tabuu is."

"But Ganondorf, there is no denying your power," Zelda tried. "If something does come up, the three pieces of the Triforce needs to act in unison in order to defeat Tabuu."

"Whoa, you said you're not sure if he'll even be freed."

"There is always the chance," Zelda warned. "And please, if you end up finding some information, share it with us. If Galleom does come here, we could use your help in defeating him and taking the teleporter from him. With it, we might be able to return to Smash Kingdom."

"And then what?" Ganondorf looked the trio over with cold eyes. "Return to Smash Kingdom where nothing's left?"

"…Ganondorf…"

"There's nothing else we can do. Even if all you said is true, how can we find the other Smashers? And even if we manage to find the others, how can we take Tabuu down?"

Ness stepped forward. "We came to warn you," he said. "Tabuu's most likely still sealed away. It's Galleom we have to worry about, because he's the one trying to bring Tabuu back. Please, at least help us find Galleom and take him down."

Ganondorf hesitated and then looked away. "This is no longer my problem," he said finally. "You do what you want."

Link, who had been standing by the whole time, felt fury slowly boil up inside his stomach as the conversation went on. Everyone was trying so hard to fight against a growing threat and Ganondorf was willing to just ignore it.

"Ganondorf, stop hiding," Link said softly as he stepped forward. "I never took you as someone who would just give up like this. After all this time, we might finally get the chance to find out what happened to Smash Kingdom and you're not even going to _try? _What, don't tell you're scared."

Zelda and Ness was staring at him incredulously. When Ganondorf's eyes flashed dangerously and his hand brushed against his sword, Zelda stepped in between them and gave Link a warning look.

"Scared, boy?" Ganondorf rasped. "I'm not the one that's scared. You should be. You think you're going to be the little hero again, running off to save the day, huh? Just like before?" Zelda had to hold Link back from charging the bandit as he continued. "You're reopening doors that should be best left closed, all of you. But if you're not going to listen, then just make sure you don't end up freeing Tabuu instead of ending him."

After saying that, Ganondorf turned around briskly and walked away, leaving the trio staring after his back.

They began their walk back dejectedly, with Ganondorf's warning still echoing in their minds. Zelda kept apologizing for trying to recruit him but nobody blamed her. Ness told her they didn't need him anyways and Link kept quiet, thinking over what he had said.

_He's mistaken,_ Link thought firmly. _He's just scared. Why expect any more from someone like him?_

The outskirts of the town had just come into view when Link felt Zelda touch his arm. "Don't let what he said get to you," she murmured softly. "No matter what he says, Ganon was also upset about what happened back then."

Link nodded, not wanting to disagree with her. He was about to continue walking when a rustling noise came from behind them. It got louder in the matter of seconds.

Something was approaching.

Link turned around only in time to see a huge form looming over them before he realized that his body was thrown into the air.


	5. Chapter 4

_Thank you everyone for the support so far!_

* * *

**Chapter Four**

"_And here is your room, ma'am."_

_Zelda nodded at the woman who led her to the door. "Thank you."_

"_I hope you enjoy your stay here!"_

_The Hyrulian princess had certainly been in for a surprise when her ride arrived at the mansion. It was enormous, just as big as the palace back at home or perhaps even bigger. A path led from the gate through an impressive front lawn to the main entrance. On the top floor, there were a row of windows and Zelda assumed that was where the dorms were._

_Link and Toon Link had come with her and they too gazed in wonder at the magnificent building. A lady was waiting for them at the door._

"_Welcome to Smash Mansion," she greeted them._

"_It's great to be here," Zelda said._

_As their guide showed them the way to the living room, she almost collided with two kids as they ran out of the door, laughing and waving hammers around._

_Link stared at their backs incredulously. "Are those little kids participating in the tournaments too?" he asked, ignoring the "little kids?" from Toon Link. _

_The guide nodded. "The Ice Climbers are perfectly capable of holding their own ground. Please Mister Link, if you could allow me to give you a piece of advice, it's to remember to not underestimate younger ones in a fight."_

_Toon Link beamed and shot his older brother a smug look. Zelda smiled as Link pulled the shorter elf's hat over his eyes. It needn't be said that she, too, will try her hardest in a fight, even if it meant going against her friends._

_After Zelda got to her room, she unpacked her things and immediately headed out to the training grounds. There were already a couple of others there. Some were sparring. Others were training by themselves, practicing their moves on dummies._

_Link and Toon weren't here. Zelda sighed. They were probably raiding the kitchen or something. But it was fine. She could train solo._

_Zelda found a spot a fair length away from the others and began practicing her magic. She had much to improve on, for she didn't want to have to rely on her light arrows in the tournaments. Of course, she could always use Sheik but that was a last measure for it uses a lot of her strength. _

"_Wow you can do magic?"_

_Zelda whirled around at the feminine voice. A pretty girl with big blue eyes was staring back at her holding a turnip. She smiled and extended her hand. _

"_I'm Peach," she said cheerfully. "From Mushroom Kingdom."_

* * *

Zelda gaped as Link was hurled into the air away from them. She tried to run to him as he fell back onto the ground but the attacker quickly moved between them, cutting her off. As Link tried to get back up, Zelda had no choice but to focus on the enemy.

…Where did that _thing_ come from?

Zelda didn't hear it coming up to them at all. It was really as if it had appeared out of thin air. She did, however, recognize who it was. The colourful beast had a large mouth filled with razor sharp teeth and was more than twenty feet tall. It carried a cage in one both of its hands. It had been five years since Zelda last saw it and despite the attacks it was receiving from her and Ness, Petey the Piranha turned to Link who was still on the ground.

"Link!" Zelda cried. With a wave of her hand, she disappeared and reappeared in front of him, cutting him off from the monster. Link tried to yell at her to move away but it came out as a whisper. He desperately tried to stand.

"PK Fire!" Something exploded against Piranha's back and he roared in pain. Ness took this chance to jump onto its head and started hitting him with his baseball bat.

Thanks to the distraction, Link had the time to stand up. Zelda didn't need to feel his arm to know that it was broken. It was obvious, from the way he positioned it.

"Link?" she said uncertainly.

"I'm fine Princess," he told her. "Now's not the time to worry." As if to prove his point, Ness was flung off the enemy. Zelda had forgotten that Ness was already injured from his previous incident with Galleom. Even though it was three on one, thanks to Petey's surprise attack, they didn't seem to have the advantage.

Zelda suddenly remembered what Ness said about working teleporters. Sure enough, she could see the shiny metal attached on Piranha's chest. She only needed to give Link a look for him to understand. They need the teleporter.

Link and Zelda got ready to attack again, encircling Petey slowly. Before they could do anything, however, Zelda suddenly saw something approaching from the hills behind their opponent and felt her heart quicken in shock.

An army of primids flooded in like a swarm of insects. Before she could even blink, the little robots quickly had them surrounded and closed in from them on all sides.

"H-how can this…" Zelda couldn't finish her sentence. How could they possibly do anything against such overwhelming odds?

Link growled.

"Princess Zelda!" he yelled, motioning with his hands to distract Petey. Zelda had fought with Link too many times before to not move instinctively. She blasted the mutant plantlike creature back with her magic as Link drew his sword with his good arm and charged towards it. Link rolled under one of the swinging cages to stab his Master Sword into its leg. Piranha shrieked in indignation and tried to swat him away but Link rolled again to his left and dodged. He suddenly stopped, however, and clutched his arm in pain.

The enemy didn't give him time to recover. Link was grabbed and shoved roughly into one of the cages the monster was holding. He cried out when he landed on his bad arm.

"Link!" Zelda cried. The primids were swarming around her and Ness, not giving them a chance to regroup. There was no end to them. No matter how much Zelda took down, more took their place.

Zelda suddenly heard Link yell her name. She turned around just in time to see Petey picking her up and roughly throwing her into the other cage. She remembered what Ness told them about Lucas and her heart leapt at her throat.

Zelda immediately tried to teleport herself out but found out she couldn't. It wasn't just some metal cage; it was preventing her from using magic. Link meanwhile hacked at his cage but it wouldn't budge either. The cage must've contained a magic barrier for even the Master Sword couldn't break the lock. They made eye contact, both of them desperate and disbelieving. For the first time in a long time, Zelda felt helpless.

Ness yelled and charged at Piranha but was intercepted by a dozen primids. The boy fought them off the best he could but Zelda watched desperately as her friend was overwhelmed in the end.

Piranha picked her up and lumbered over towards Link. The cage swayed to and fro, knocking her around despite her feeble attempts to grab the bars. Just as Piranha picked up Link's cage, the elf thrust his sword lightning fast towards the monster's head. They were out of luck though, as it only nicked Piranha in the face. The monster roared and shook Link's cage hard, forcing him to the ground.

"Link! Are you alright?" Zelda barely finished speaking before Piranha began swinging both of the cages around, tormenting its prisoners. The Hyrulian felt sick. The world spun around in circles and it was all she could do to hold on to the cage and not throw up. She could hear Link yelling her name.

When Zelda was finally given a break, she gasped for breath. "Link…" she whispered.

Link didn't look any better than she felt. He was lying on the cage floor and his face was a sick shade of white. His head was bleeding at the temple. Zelda felt something run down her face and realized her head was bleeding too.

Piranha suddenly grunted and all the primids turned to look at him. Even the ones around Ness stopped fighting and looked over. They walked over to Piranha leaving Ness lying still on the ground.

The teleporter on Piranha's chest was glowing and as Zelda watched, a portal materialized in front of them. Zelda let out a small, surprised gasp.

"No!" Link yelled in horror. He struggled with the cage yet again, pounding at it with all his might. Zelda felt herself growing dizzy from the blood loss as she watched the scene before her and was afraid she might pass out any second.

It wasn't working. Nothing was working. Zelda began to despair, realizing that they was out of options. "Ness!" she cried, turning to their last hope. "Ness, _please._" Piranha was already on the portal. They would disappear in a few seconds.

As if by a miracle, Ness got up, trembling. The boy took one look and realized what was happening. He charged blindly towards them, past the surprised the primids, and knocked into Piranha just before they disappeared. Piranha grunted in surprise and stumbled as they all vanished at the same time.

Zelda closed her eyes, trying to calm her headache. She weakly open her eyes when they materialized, and expected to see Smash Kingdom.

Just before she blacked out, she caught Bowser staring back in surprise and realized they weren't in Smash Kingdom at all.


	6. Chapter 5

_Hey guys. Sorry this chapter's taken so long! I had to send my laptop away to get it fixed because it stopped working. I'm back now though and hopefully will keep posting chapters quickly. Here's chapter five. Enjoy._

* * *

**Chapter Five**

_Ness looked up when he heard the laughter from down the hallway. Peach and Zelda walked into the dining room, chatting and smiling. They seemed to be having a great time. He sighed and went back to picking at his food. _

_He's been at Smash Kingdom for two weeks now and he could see the friendships starting to form. It wasn't just Peach and Zelda who grew very close. Samus, a bounty hunter from space trained frequently with a pokemon trainer called Red and the trainerless pokemon Pikachu. Marth and Ike, both from the same world, found other swordsmen to talk to, namely a curious figure called Meta Knight and an elf named Link. Lucas who came with Ness made a friend too- Kirby. Even the cold and distant Ganondorf found someone to converse with- two Smashers from Mushroom Kingdom Bowser and Wario._

_So why couldn't he seem to make friends? He couldn't answer the question. Ness had hoped that sooner or later, he would just somehow meet up with someone, maybe over dinner or during training but that didn't happen to be the case. He wasn't sure what this competition would be like and thought he didn't need to get acquainted with any others but after a while, he realized how much he was missing out on. And by that time, groups of friends had already formed with him not being a part of any._

_He didn't even realize Lucas was watching him until the younger boy spoke. "Ness, you've been frowning at your food for quite a while now," he said quietly. "Are you ok?"_

_Ness shrugged. "Meh. It's nothing."_

"_You should talk to some of the others." Lucas' suggestion was so abrupt Ness almost choked on his spaghetti. _

"_I… I have," he said quickly. _

"_Not really," Lucas replied. "I always see you either train with me or on your own."_

"_It's just… I never really got the chance to get to know anyone yet." What was Ness supposed to say? He wasn't sure himself. Maybe it was because of how being in Smash Kingdom overwhelmed him at first or that he was intimidated by some of the others or that he was simply afraid no one wanted to be his friend._

_Lucas looked around. His eyes settled on a figure sitting in the corner. "What about… Lucario?" _

"_What? That guy?" Ness heard about pokemon already and knew who Lucario was but… "he doesn't talk much, does he?" Ness said anxiously. "And he seems kinda… hard to get along with?"_

_Lucas smiled. "Lots of people seem like that at first but I think everyone here are actually really nice if you'd just get to know them. Master Hand called all of us specifically for a reason."_

"_How can you say that?" Ness muttered, thinking about the Smashers who seemed outwardly hostile like Ganondorf or Wario._

_The blond boy laughed meekly. "Call it a hunch."_

_Still, Ness decided to take his friend's words to heart. During training the next day, he spotted Lucario practicing some slow, almost dance-like moves by himself and took a deep breath and walked up to him._

"_Hey…" Ness cleared his throat. _

_Lucario turned towards him and stopped practicing, his calm blue eyes taking him in._

"_Ah…" Ness scratched his head. "My name's Ness. I was wondering if you'd like to practice together sometimes?"_

_Lucario blinked and swished his tail. Ness swallowed. Maybe the pokemon couldn't talk! He's seen some of Red's pokemon. They only seemed able to repeat their names._

"_Um, I was just wondering," Ness continued shrugging. "But it's ok if you don't want to. Kay, bye now!"_

_And just like that, Ness quickly exited the room._

_Outside in the hallway, he repeatedly banged his head against the wall, only stopping when a couple of passing nurses gave him weird looks. Ness then headed dejectedly back to his room. _

"_It didn't work," he told Lucas the next day at breakfast._

"_What, really?" the blond regarded him worriedly. "What happened?"_

"_I don't know," Ness groaned. "Urg, I was too nervous, I guess. Ah, whatever. It's not like I needed another friend anyways." He had just turned away when he spotted someone walking up to them. It was Lucario._

"_You dropped this yesterday."_

_Ness blinked and looked around when he heard the deep voice. Lucas beside him was in the middle of greeting the pokemon. He didn't hear it. Ness nudged him. "Did you hear that?"_

"_Hear what?" Lucas asked._

"_It was me," Lucario said as Lucas squeaked in surprise. "I communicate through telepathy. The little voice in your heads is just me speaking." _

"_That's… that's cool," Ness managed. He just realized that Lucario was still holding out his baseball bat and quickly took it. "Oh… thanks! I didn't know I forgot it."_

"_No worries. You seemed to be in a great hurry to go somewhere."_

"_Oh, uh… haha. Yeah, I was."_

_Lucario swished his tail and cocked his head slightly. "Well, Ness… since you asked, I guess I could spar with you sometimes," he said. "I've seen you train. You are quite skillful and your moves are very interesting to observe. Of course, if you want to join in, Lucas, feel free to. Well…I'll be taking my leave now." _

_As Lucario walked off Ness stared after him with his jaws slightly dropped. He felt Lucas nudge his elbow. The blond was smiling._

"_See Ness? That wasn't too hard right?"_

* * *

Ness was surprised. Oh, that was an understatement. First Hyrule and now, Mushroom Kingdom. It seemed that he was traveling to a lot of places lately.

They were in the middle of a flat piece of land that felt warm to the touch. The air around them was humid and in the distance, Ness spotted several volcanos, some with lava trickling down the sides.

And Bowser! Bowser was standing right in front of them as if he'd just seen someone return from the dead. Which was pretty close to what they were.

Petey the Piranha spotted Bowser too, and immediately realized that he was in the wrong place. Before Ness could even stand up, he summoned up the portal again and stepped on it with Zelda and Link.

"No!" Ness couldn't reach them this time for a couple of primids who also ended up in Mushroom world quickly stepped between them. Without a second thought, Ness summoned up his lightning, his most versatile attack, and aimed.

Deep in his mind, Ness knew he only had one choice. Hitting Piranha straight on wouldn't do any good. PK thunder was too weak to blow him away. Both Zelda and Link would disappear if his grip remained on their cages and Ness highly doubted the beast would let them go unless his attack struck it square on the arm.

He had only one attack. And two friends to save. Ness didn't dare give himself time to think for that would only waste time and he would've lost them both.

The PK Thunder flew right over the primids' head, straight towards Piranha's left arm, twisting and traveling down to the cage. Piranha let out a cry of pain as the cage slipped through his hands. He disappeared a brief second later, as Ness stared at Link, longing with guilt and despair. The elf had caught on to what happened, and instead of looking betrayed, he gave Ness a smile of gratitude… and vanished.

The primids ran to the portal and a few managed to jump in before it closed. The ones that didn't make it in time chattered around in confusion and turned back to Ness. Their puzzlement turned to anger and they ran at him. Ness, disheartened and exhausted, didn't bother to raise his arms in defense. It would be better for them to beat him into blissful oblivion.

A sudden gust of fire caught the robots by surprise and roasted them to a crisp before they had time to dodge. Bowser lumbered up, growling and glanced around. Ness was still standing, staring into nothing. A cage with an unconscious Zelda lay on the floor. Pieces of the primids was scattered on the ground with smoke rising out of them. There was no trace of Piranha or Link.

"Hey," Bowser called to Ness. The boy turned and looked at him.

"Bowser," he said the fog lifting a little from his eyes. "It's… good to see you again. Th-thanks for helping me."

Bowser got straight to the point. "What's going on? Did you just appear on a portal? What the hell just happened?"

Knowing it would be a long story, Ness asked if they could move Zelda to a safer place. The King of the Koopas grudgingly agreed.

As Bowser and Ness carried her cage into his castle, Ness began to speak. He told Bowser everything, starting from when he and Lucas found the shield back in the hills of Onett.

"You're telling me Galleom kidnapped Lucas, and then Piranha there took Link?" Boswer said as they climbed up the stairs.

"Yes. I don't know why they're targeting the Smashers… and Ganondorf refused to help us."

The King Koopa smirked. "That sounds like Ganon. Well, it's because of Tabuu, right?" he answered to Ness' previous statement. "We got in his way last time and stopped him and now, he wants to get rid of us. Sorry to tell you this, kid, but Lucas and Link are probably aren't doing so great right now."

Ness' body tensed up. "I know," he whispered. "I will rescue them though. Those guys will be coming back. They'll take me straight to them."

"Brave words," Bowser growled. "But they're just words if you can't do anything."

Ness felt his anger heat up, unintentionally letting sparks fly from his fingers.

"If you remember, there are other Smashers in this world," Bowser continued on. "It's probably better if they knew about this too. I can get to them in less than a day from here."

Ness blinked. "Oh yeah! Mario, Luigi, and Peach!"

"And Yoshi and Wario. Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong live quite far from here on DK Island, but we'll get the news to them too."

"You… you're helping me?" Ness must've sounded too surprised for Bowser growled in irritation.

"Aren't I right now?" he asked, carrying the cage to the top of the stairs. "And besides, I don't want this mess to stay in Mushroom Kingdom. My castle getting messed up is the last thing I need. Alright, so you said that Galleom attacked you less than three days ago?"

Ness nodded. "And Zelda and Link didn't know Piranha was going to appear in Hyrule either."

"They're making their move fast," Bowser muttered. He opened the door to a vacant room and set the cage onto the ground. "Zelda can stay here for now," he said.

"Wait… can't we at least get her out of this cage?"

"If her own magic couldn't break it, what can we do?"

"I… I don't know…"

Bowser sighed, exasperated. He looked at the cage door. It really just seemed like normal metal. He gripped the bars tightly and tried to break it off its hinges. To him and Ness' surprise, the door came off with a loud snap. Bowser glanced over at Ness, raising an eyebrow. It seemed the boy had really thought it was a magical cage, for his eyes were about to pop out of his head.

"How…?" Ness exclaimed. "Link had tried to break free but it door wouldn't budge!"

"It was made specifically to hold them?" Bowser muttered.

"W-what?"

"Think about it, Piranha appeared in Hyrule right behind you three with two cages. He didn't expect for you to be there but I bet he was after Zelda and Link since the beginning. Tabuu's on to capturing all of us and he's gotta make sure he won't fail."

* * *

When Zelda woke, Ness told her everything. However, no matter how much he emphasized the fact that it was his fault that Link was gone, Zelda blamed herself. Ness couldn't bear the look of her pain but also couldn't find any way to comfort her other than repeatedly apologizing. Zelda shook her head.

"How could you say that, Ness," she murmured. "You did everything you could."

Ness blinked hard, looking down. "First Lucas… and now Link… I'm sorry."

Zelda reached out and wrapped him in her arms. Ness could tell the princess was crying and he bit his lips, refusing for his own tears to fall. Their grieving was short however, for sudden noises erupted outside the door, the sound of loud footsteps of someone running down the hall.

"Bowser?" Ness mouthed. Zelda shook her head. The footsteps were much too quick to be the Koopa King.

"Peach, slow down!"

"You hurry, Mario! And Bowser, did you say they were in here?"

"Second door to the left…"

The door suddenly flew open and a blond girl in a pink dress bursted in. Her eyes landed on the two who stood up to meet her and her hands flew to her mouth.

"Zelda…" Peach whispered, trembling.

Zelda, too, broke down when she saw her old friend. Peach ran forward and practically threw herself at the elf, sobbing into her shoulder. Mario and Luigi came in right behind her. They walked past the princesses quietly, not disturbing their tearful reunion and greeted Ness.

"Hey there, Ness!" Mario said, smiling. "It's been so long!"

"It really has," Ness agreed, feeling his spirit lift somewhat.

Luigi shook his hand. "Man, what a way to meet up," he said. "I had always thought we'd all return to Smash Kingdom one day and have a huge happy party but it seems things have taken a turn for the worse, huh?"

Ness nodded. "Guess the party'll have to wait."

"But still, it's great to see you again."

They started catching up on the five long years as the girls finally settled down. Ness suddenly spotted Bowser watching them from the door but before he could call him in, the Koopa turned and left. Ness hesitated and then quickly helped Zelda fill in Mario, Luigi, and Peach on all that had happened.

"We'll rescue them," Peach declared when they finished. "We'll definitely rescue them!"

Zelda could only nod as even talking about Link made her want to cry. The group moved to a table and sat down and she quickly continued. "We have some things sorted out. Or at least…" she looked over at Ness. "We think this is what Tabuu and his minions are up to."

"They're taking Smashers on purpose," Ness said. "When Piranha went to Hyrule, he had it all planned out. He knew where Link, Zelda, and I were and ambushed us."

"What about Lucas?" Luigi asked. "Did they have that all planned out too?"

Ness hesitated. "I… I don't think that was the case with Lucas and I. Galleom was after a shield. We found a shield in the hills beside our town. Definitely not from our world. I don't know how it got there though. It looked really old fashioned, like something a knight would wear into battle."

"Can you describe the shield?" came a gruff voice.

Ness turned and saw Bowser walking up to them. He took a seat next to Luigi and said, "I've just sent messengers to Wario, Donkey Kong, and Diddy Kong."

"Thank you, Bowser," said Zelda.

Bowser grunted and gestured for Ness to continue.

"Well… the shield had five jewels, all different colours. And its design… here, do you have any paper?" Ness gave a quick sketch of what he remembered and showed it to the other Smashers.

"It seems very important," murmured Peach. "What could it be doing in a forest?"

"Maybe someone dropped it," Ness said. He was really at a loss too.

"Maybe… maybe Galleom dropped it." Heads turned to Luigi and he quickly continued. "Maybe Galleom stole it from another world, and then dropped it while he was in the portal and it fell into Eagleland. He went to retrieve it and then accidently ran into you, Ness, and Lucas."

"…Yes," Zelda whispered. "That would make sense!"

Luigi shrugged modestly. "Although, the reason why Galleom wanted that shield, I have no idea."

"This shield sounds very valuable," Zelda said slowly. "Just think of what special powers it could possess. To have it in the hands of Tabuu's followers… I shudder to think of what they might try."

"And at the same time, they're kidnapping Smashers who are a threat to their goal," Mario muttered. "This is bad."

Zelda's eyes suddenly widened. "Ganondorf!" she cried. "I have to tell Ganondorf they're after him too! Oh, how could I not have seen this in time?"

"Zelda, it's alright." Peach placed a hand on her friend's shoulder. "It's not your fault. Besides, didn't you try talking to him?"

Bowser grunted. "I'm sure Ganon can take care of himself. Meanwhile, now that we know what they're after, they'll come for us for sure and we need to prepare this time for it to happen. Peach, you better make sure your castle is secure too. They might try to steal something."

Peach nodded. "Of course. We'll be completely ready this time for anything."

* * *

The next few days were a blur to Peach. Zelda and Ness had agreed to move over to her castle in Toad Town because it was near the centre of where all the Mushroom Kingdom Smashers lived. If any trouble arose, Bowser, Wario, Donkey Kong, and Diddy Kong would try to get there as fast as they could.

Even though Peach was overjoyed to see her old friends, she was worried sick for them. Zelda had woken up numerous times at night calling for Link, and Ness, the poor kid, kept thinking Lucas was around every corner. They were both weakened from all they went through but were too anxious to settle down and rest.

The princess hurried down the corridor to the meeting place Luigi asked her to come to. She spotted him and waved.

"Hello, Princess!" Luigi greeted. "Mario will be here shortly. We just finished patrolling around the kingdom but we didn't find anything weird. No primids or anything. And we haven't heard anything from Bowser and the others."

"Thanks, Luigi," Peach said graciously. They had been taking turns patrolling Mushroom Kingdom just in case one of Tabuu's minions returned but the week passed with no disturbances. Peach didn't know what they might go after in Mushroom Kingdom either. There were some magical mushrooms and other such things but Peach had already warned the civilians to report anything if something mysteriously disappears. So far, there had been nothing.

"Princess." Peach realized she had been zoning out and quickly turned to Luigi. The man looked troubled. "Princess, do you know how the portals work?"

Peach nodded slowly. "Master Hand controlled them somehow. He could summon us when he wanted to and send us away just as easily, as long as we're touching the teleporter."

"What if someone else can activate it? The teleporter? It doesn't just have to be Master Hand."

Peach frowned. "Well…unless they figure out how Master Hand used it… Luigi, are you thinking that one of Tabuu's minions or someone else from Smash Kingdom can summon us back there?"

Luigi nodded. "I… I've never told anyone but Mario this but in Master Hand's operating room, the place where he could control and carry out tournaments, he activates teleporters there too."

"What?"

"I accidently stumbled into his room once. Long story. Mario thought it'd be funny to trap me into an air vent and I ended up having to crawl around in that thing all over the mansion until I accidently fell into that room."

Peach nodded. "Go on."

"Anyways, he has this amazing supercomputer in there. It does a lot of things, like operate damage control in our tournaments, which is why it is impossible to die when we're having a fight, even if we use our ultimate smash. It also monitors activity all over the Mansion and the tournaments. And there's something else. On Master Hand's computer, there's a section labeled 'portal access'."

Luigi shook his head rapidly. "I couldn't open the file, it was Master Hand's! I…I lost my nerve and got out of there as fast as I could."

Peach nodded. She might've done some more snooping around but she knew instinctively that Master Hand's room should be out of boundaries.

"But… even if it was possible to find the computer," Peach continued. "It's most likely by one of Tabuu's minions. Why would they ever want to activate it and bring us back? We're their enemy."

"They won't," Luigi agreed. "But they've already found the place and changed the settings around to use the portals to their advantage. That's how they managed to gain the ability to travel worlds. If… if even one of the us can steal a currently working teleporter and go back to Smash Kingdom and find Master Hand's room, we can revive all the other Smashers' teleporters too!"

"You're… you're right!" Peach said incredulously. How could she not have thought of it? "We can be reunited this way!"

Luigi turned a deep shade of red and laughed embarrassed. "It's only a possibility, Princess. Still, Mario and I were thinking of alerting the rest of the others."

"Of course!" There was a chance their teleporters could be reactivated. This was the best lead they had so far. "We'll tell the others right away."


	7. Chapter 6

_Hey guys I'm back! As always, thanks for the reviews and support!_

* * *

**Chapter Six**

"_Master Hand? What have you called us together for?" Mario asked when the whole group had taken a seat._

_Master Hand was standing at the head of the table. He had called them together very suddenly so Mario assumed he had some important news._

_Master Hand cleared his throat. "Alright first of all," he said. "Congratulations to the great success of the tournament so far! I know we're only two days into the first round but I've had plenty of townsmen come up to me and tell me how exciting it was to watch. Everyone here loves it and I have you all to thank."_

_A few smashers shrugged modestly while others broke into smiles._

"_No problem, Master Hand," Toon Link said. The young Hyrulian warrior was already out of the tournament after he was defeated by Fox on the first day but he didn't seem too upset about it. Unlike some others._

_Captain Falcon gave a salute. "Can't wait for my turn, Captain!" He grinned at Red._

"_The pleasure is ours," Snake replied, giving Lucario, whom he defeated yesterday, a stare._

_The pokemon caught Snake's eyes and glared back, his body suddenly enveloping in a mysterious purple aura. Ness, who was sitting beside him, slowly scooted away as the angry pokemon began floating slightly off his chair. Snake and Lucario seemed to be exchanging some intense staring battle when Peach intervened._

"_Oh, cool off you two," she said, waving her hands. "This is just the first tournament. So what if you lost? There's plenty more to come." Others who had been defeated already smiled and nodded, looking a lot happier. "That being said," Peach continued, looking over to Ness, her eyes suddenly darkening. "I'll crush my opponent next time."_

_Ness swallowed and shrank back in his seat. "I regret my win," he muttered. _

_Slowly, the Smashers forgot about the meeting as talk about the tournament continued. Wario and Bowser glared at each other as if they were imagining themselves already ripping the other apart. Lucas gave Kirby a confident, challenging smile and Kirby returned it. _

_The Ice Climbers, Nana and Popo looked on the verge of tears. "I can't believe we lost so soon," Nana murmured to her brother. _

"_I know right," Popo said wiping his eyes. "I wanted to win."_

_Ike, a mercenary swordsman, who sat a few down from the twins, heard them and sighed. He put his head onto the table._

"_The guilt is killing me," he whispered to Marth beside him._

_Marth gave his shoulder a small pat. "It's not your fault."_

"_I'm a terrible person," Ike said as he secretly watched the Ice Climbers sniffle._

"_Hey, it's all for the sake of advancing to round two! I mean, sure you brutally beat up a couple of kids but at least you won." Marth smiled cheerfully._

_Ike groaned._

"_WHAT WAS THAT?" Further down the table, Wolf suddenly stood up and was pointed his blaster at Falco's head._

_Falco didn't look the least bit fazed and instead smirked. "I said, you only think this whole thing is boring 'cause you lost in, like, two seconds fla-" _

_It was a good thing Falco had his reflector at the ready because Wolf began rapid firing. The lasers bounced away from Falco but they hit everything else. Windows shattered and walls were punctured as all the Smashers hit the floor._

"_You're only cocky 'cause you haven't fought yet," Wolf snarled. He suddenly turned to Mario. "Hey, Mario, you better kick this guy's ass real good or I'll kill you. I mean it."_

_Mario scratched his head and laughed weakly as he watched Fox pull Falco down before the bird could take out his own blaster. Meanwhile, Pit fired an arrow at Wolf. Wolf back flipped away as it shot past and made a hole through wall._

"_What do you think you're doing?" Pit yelled._

"_Where the hell were you aiming?" Wolf growled back._

"_Are we fighting?" Toon Link asked excitedly, drawing his sword. The Ice Climbers seemed to agree with this and quickly pulled out their hammers._

_Mario's jaws dropped as he watched things quickly escalate. A minute before, they were having a meeting like civilized people. Now, a brawl had been started in the middle of the meeting room, and half the room was already destroyed. _

"_Everyone, stop," Mr. Game and Watch cried frantically, ringing his bell. Yoshi responded by accidently kicking a Yoshi egg into his face. Some of the Smashers eagerly jumped into the fray while others fought solely for self defense or ducked out of the way. _

_Mario glanced around for Peach and saw her standing safely out of the way with Zelda. He also spotted Jigglypuff jumping on Luigi's face and was about to run over to help him when a ray of laser suddenly flew over his head, coming so close to him he could feel its heat._

_The flash of red laser also surprised everyone else and the fighting temporarily stopped. The Smashers glanced over at the sizzling wall where a perfectly round hole was carved with smoke slowly floating out of it. It had also shot through Marth's cape and Kirby's hammer. Kirby blew the smoke out of his weapon, brought it to his eyes, and stared through it like a peephole._

_R.O.B. couldn't show emotions but from the way his eyes flashed red, Mario and the others could tell that he was not in a good mood. _

"_Can we please all return to our seats?" the robot asked softly. "I am sure Master Hand has not finished with whatever it is that he needed to tell us and it would be terribly rude for us to interrupt him any further."_

_They all quietly agreed and quickly returned to their seats. One of the table's legs had broken off but King Dedede used his hammer to support it and the meeting continued._

_Master Hand slowly cleared his throat. "Alright," he said. "Thank you, everyone, for, uh, calming down. I suppose I've also learned a lesson today. To never again mention the tournament when all of you are together for the sake of the mansion. But anyways, moving on! I wanted to tell all of you about a magic spell I was working on. I have been preparing it for the past few years and yesterday, I've finally managed to perfect it."_

_This caught the interest of all the Smashers._

"_A spell?" Meta Knight asked. "A spell used for…?"_

"_For sealing," Master Hand responded._

_Nana raised her hand. "I don't understand. Sealing? Are we sealing something away?"_

_Master Hand chuckled. "Oh, no, Nana," he replied. "Hopefully, we never need to. However, this sealing spell can be used to seal away a large amount of power. If, for whatever reason, I have to use it, it is best to tell all of you beforehand how the spell works so you will know what to do if that time ever comes." _

_Everyone seemed to have forgotten about their fight by then. No one joked or poked fun even once as they continued to listen._

"_Now, be sure to note that this spell does not take lives.," Master Hand explained. "It does not kill the enemy, but instead renders them unable to move. As long as the spell is in effect, the target will not be able to wake up."_

_Popo raised his hand this time. "Can it be broken? This spell?"_

_Master Hand nodded slowly. "Yes, it can, but it is extremely difficult to do so. When I activate it, the target is thrown into a space behind a door and the door is shut forever."_

_Master Hand suddenly conjured up a misty image above the table. It took the shape of a large glowing door, closed and bolted shut. Three silver spherical objects were embedded at its centre. _

_Zelda frowned. "What are those glowing orbs?"_

"_I call them charms. They keep a magic protective barrier around the door." _

_Master Hand waved a finger and an image appeared above the table. It showed a close up of the three glowing round orbs. They looked a bit similar to teleporters except they were a bit bigger and silver in colour._

"_They are the main protection of the gate," he continued. "If, by the use of some powerful magic, the charms are forcefully removed and taken away from the gate, the spell will be greatly weakened and there's a chance it could be broken." _

"_So in a sense, the gate is responsible for sealing something in, and the charms are responsible for protecting it from attacks from outside," Fox summarized._

_Master Hand nodded and his voice turned solemn. "It's the ultimate sealing spell I have come up with. I hope to never have to resort to it though. If I do, it most likely means that we are up against an enemy we cannot defeat. If we ever encounter anyone like that, all of you must, at all costs, make sure the spell is never broken."_

_A heavy silence filled the room._

"_Are there any questions?" No one had a question._

"_Now remember, I am only taking precautions. There's a very likely chance that you will never see this spell so there's no need to worry yet. If there are no questions, then the meeting is over." Master Hand dismissed them with a wave._

_As the Smashers were walking out the door, Mario picked up his pace to catch up with Sonic. The hedgehog was frowning._

"_Sonic? What's wrong?" Mario asked._

"_I don't think Master Hand should worry," Sonic replied as they walked down the hall._

"_What do you mean?"_

"_This… this whole spell he thought up of, I mean, it sounds very helpful, but when are we ever going to encounter a foe that all of us can't defeat together?"_

_Mario hesitated. "It's sounds more like a last resort," he said._

"_Yeah, one we don't need," Sonic scoffed. "I know most of these guys here are idiots but they can all hold their own in a fight. There's no way someone out there can take down all of us. No way at all."_

* * *

Two weeks after the arrival of Ness and Princess Zelda, Mushroom Kingdom was finally targeted.

Based on what he's heard, Mario knew to expect lots and lots of primids lead by one of Tabuu's closer followers like Galleom or Petey Piranha so he thought he was ready to take them on. He just forgot one thing- how fast the attack came.

Even with all the extra precautions Princess Peach came up with, Duon still came down on them by surprise. Mario had been taking a morning patrol outside Toad Town when the centre of town suddenly exploded, sending citizens and debris flying into the air. Immediately, Mario knew it was Duon, the two sided robot capable of mass destruction. There was no mistaking the missiles it was shooting.

Mario ran towards the commotion. He could already see some primids starting to run amuck in the town, attacking innocents.

"Mario!" Luigi was suddenly at his side.

"We've got to stop the primids and evacuate the villagers," Mario yelled. Another explosion went off in the direction they were headed.

"Shouldn't we attack the leader?" Luigi asked, staring at the chaos at town centre.

"I know," Mario said. He picked up his pace. "We also have to call Bowser, Yoshi, and the others for help!" Everything happened so quickly Mario wasn't sure what to do first.

"They're too far away," Luigi cried. "I think Yoshi's nearby but Bowser's back at his castle… and DK Island is a day's trip from here!"

Mario cursed silently. There was no way to get to the other Smashers at the moment. He thought about Princess Peach, Princess Zelda, and Ness back at the castle. No doubt they also heard the explosions and will soon come. Until then…

"We have to buy time," Mario said. With only the two of them at the moment, there was no way they could take down a whole army.

As they kept running towards the middle of town, Mario and Luigi took out as many primids as they possibly could. Primids weren't very strong, but their sheer numbers could tire out a fighter if they let it drag on.

Mario suddenly spotted a primid about to fire at innocent Toads and felt a burst of hot anger shoot up his body, making the fire ball he threw at the primid extra intense. The villagers had nothing to do with this and yet so many have died already. The primids spared no one; just like back at the battle of Smash Kingdom, they killed everyone and destroyed everything in their wake.

"There's Duon!" Luigi yelled, punching primids out of their way.

Sure enough, the giant robot-or _robots_- appeared before them, both sides turning and focusing their attention on their two newly arrived challengers.

"Mario and Luigi from Mushroom Kingdom," the blue side noted.

"Destroy them," the pink side said.

The blue side didn't waste time. Its arms lashed out and swiped at Mario and Luigi. Luigi ducked and Mario jumped into the air. Mario landed next to blue Duon and immediately started dealing attacks as fast as he could. Luigi distracted the pink half by pelting it with green fire.

Duon suddenly moved. He rammed forward, his wheels crashing into and destroying a house. Mario rolled out of the way and he saw Luigi do the same. Their attacks didn't seem to have too much effect. Mario knew the robot was too huge to be taken down by two Smashers but they had to keep trying.

"Mario, he's got a teleporter with him somewhere!" Luigi yelled.

Mario blinked. That's right! If they took Duon's teleporter, it couldn't escape. It didn't take long for Mario to spot it.

"Luigi, it's on the blue robot's head!"

"How're we going to reach it?" Luigi cried as he ducked out of the way of a missile.

"Leave it to me!" Mario sidestepped as the blue Duon lunged at him again and quickly flipped onto the robot's arm. He ran straight up Duon's arm, headed for the teleporter, and almost reached it when blue Duon rammed his arm into another house.

Mario felt the impact of the wall when it contacted blue Duon's arm and felt himself fly off. He could hear Luigi yelling his name but his voice sounded distant. It felt like he was falling through the air but he wasn't sure. Everything was blurry. He couldn't get his eyes to focus or his body to move.

Before he could fall back onto the ground, Duon caught him in his fist. The blue robot motioned something to his other half and they stopped attacking Luigi. When Mario's head cleared, he realized that Princess Peach, Princess Zelda, and Ness had also shown up.

And for some reason, they were looking up at him with a horrified expression.

"Mario, no!" The last thing Mario heard was a cry from Princess Peach before everything blackened. The trip through the portal was quick and before Mario could even fully regain his senses, they had already arrived.

_Did I just get… kidnapped?_ Mario blinked, trying to get his bearings.

Duon had his fist tightly around him so he couldn't move but Mario could still see. Toad Town was gone. They were now in a meadow of some sort that stretched out quite far. Groups of primids scattered about. There were forests and mountains in the distance but that wasn't what caught Mario's eyes.

To their right was what appeared to be a huge black dome that stretched high into the sky. Mario suddenly couldn't breathe when he realized he was staring right at subspace.

He was back. Back in Smash Kingdom.

"No way…"

The more Mario stared at the landscape, the more familiar it seemed. His heart sped up. The wide plains were where the old town used to stand, before it got decimated. Even now, Mario could still see the remains of a few houses scattered around. Mario couldn't see any of the town citizens but he wasn't surprised. Who would still live in a devasted town that was half engulfed by subspace?

"Hey, where're you taking me?" Mario yelled.

The blue side replied, "Back to our headquarters."

"Headquarters?"

A group of primids had come up to Duon and were now following him straight into the black dome. Mario broke out into cold sweat as they approached it. Duon stepped in.

The inside was dark but Mario could still see, and what he saw sent chills down his spine. A vast emptiness that never seemed to end spread out before them. As Duon pressed on, the only sound came from his wheel that hummed while it rotated. As it echoed, Mario wondered just how big the subspace was. It was too dark for him to see far but it felt like they were traveling deeper into an empty void.

There were a few primids about. They turned to look at Duon as they passed by but didn't follow him. They all seemed to be heading in one direction.

As Duon took him deeper into the dark entity, Mario felt a stronger pressure weighing down on him. He knew that Tabuu was in the middle of this subspace. Even sealed away, Mario could feel the immense pressure the dangerous enemy gave off. His heart began pounding as Duon pressed on.

"Is… is that Tabuu ahead?" he asked. "He's still sealed away, isn't he?"

The pink Duon growled. "Master Tabuu may still be behind that gate but one day, we will open it. Until then, I suggest you meddlesome Smashers don't get in our way."

Mario struggled in his grip. "You'll never succeed with your plan! There's nothing stronger in Smash Kingdom than Master Hand's magic."

"That may be…" Duon said. "But Smash Kingdom isn't the only world out there, now is it? There's plenty of powerful magic to be found in other places."

They only briefly passed by the gate but Mario had time to see enough to fill him with dread. The magnificent barrier that Master Hand had summoned up was still standing majestically but it wasn't being left alone.

Hordes of primids were pounding away at the metal with hammers and swords. They looked like ants swarming around next to the giant gate. Even though the gate was magical and repelled the physical weapons, the primids were relentless, taking turns to attack it without stopping. Ripples were sent out from where the door was struck.

Mario squinted to get a better look at the gate and felt his heart plummet painfully. His worst fear came true.

The charms- the three pendants that had once protected the gates were gone.

"What… what have you done with the charms?" Mario cried.

Duon only laughed.

He kept going, past the gate and deeper into the darkness. When they suddenly approached a large trapdoor, Mario realized that this 'headquarters' Duon was talking about was underground. Duon effortlessly opened the gate and went in. They dropped down into a tunnel made out of white metal and continued on down. Primids patrolled the hallways everywhere.

"You guys build this?" Mario said disbelievingly.

Duon smirked. "Our headquarters is about the size of the town. It's taken a long time to build but with the technology of Smash Kingdom, it was easy. And it is well concealed."

Duon entered a door. Behind it, Mario spotted a row of jail cells. Roughly and without warning, Duon opened one cell and threw Mario in. The robot then quickly locked the doors and left.

Mario winced as he tried to sit up. His head was ringing but not just from his painful trip. How was he going to tell the others everything he just learned?

"Wait, a minute, come back!" Mario yelled angrily. "Answer me, what did you do with the charms?"

Mario walked over to the bars and tried to break them but his efforts were to no avail. They were made of some sort of special material that was stronger than metal. He growled in frustration. The primids that were patrolling the jail cells area kicked at him whenever he tried to punch the bars and Mario was just about to shoot fire at them when he heard a voice.

"Mario, is that you?"

Mario whirled around at the voice. From the shadows of the cell, a figure stirred and Mario caught himself staring into a pair of green eyes. He gaped.

"…Fox?"

The Cornerian pilot stood up slowly. After he got over his initial shock, he smiled. "How you doing?" he asked, glancing over Mario's battered body. "Not very well at the moment, I assume?"

Mario laughed weakly, still trying to believe he was talking to his old friend. "What're you doing here?" he said. From what he could see, Fox hadn't changed much. He was still dressed in the same outfit he always wore and hadn't lost his quippy tone of voice.

"Same reason as you I guess," Fox replied. "I was brought here by Porky Minch. Remember the guy? He attacked me back in Corneria while I was sleeping. Seriously. He was after me and Falco but Falco managed to get away unharmed along with the other Star Fox members."

Mario remembered Porky Minch. He was one of Tabuu's most powerful allies. Ness and Lucas had told everyone that Porky came from their world but chose to live in Smash Kingdom and become Tabuu's follower. Out of all of Tabuu's minions, Porky disturbed Mario the most. He was a crazy boy that trapped himself in an indestructible container connected to a deadly crab-like machine. Not exactly someone Mario would want to run into.

"So how'd you end up here?" Fox asked.

"Duon," Mario replied. He told Fox about Ness and Princess Zelda and what they figured out about the teleporters.

Fox raised an eyebrow. "Wow. That's impressive. Oh, wait, you said Zelda's alright?"

Mario nodded. "Yes, she's recovered."

Fox walked over to the left side of the cell and knocked on the wall. "You hear that, Link? Hello? Link?"

An irritated voice answered them. "What do you want, Fox? I was sleeping."

"Link!" Mario smacked himself on the head for not remembering that Link and Lucas was also here. "Link, it's me, Mario!"

"Wha- Mario?" Link sounded a lot more awake. "Mario, when did you get here?"

"Just now, actually. Duon attacked us at Mushroom Kingdom."

"Wait, isn't that- is Princess Zelda alright? And Ness and the others?" Link cried, panicking.

"Everyone should be fine," Mario replied. "Duon didn't stay too long in our world. I think when he saw that there were many Smashers, he took no chances and left. He only managed to get me."

"I… I see. That's good. I mean, it's not good that you got caught but at least the others are safe."

Mario looked down grimly. "I hope he doesn't go back too soon though," he murmured.

Mario suddenly heard a kid's voice. "Link, who're you talking to? That doesn't sound like Fox."

"Oh, you're awake, Lucas. Mario's here! I guess I shouldn't sound too excited since it's not good news that he got captured, but Mario's here!"

"Mario? Really?"

Mario smiled. Even though Lucas sounded more grown up now, he could still hear the child he knew in his voice.

"Yes," Mario said. "It's me, Lucas."

"Mario!"

"I've met up with Ness. Don't worry, he's safe in Mushroom Kingdom for the time being. He's really worried about you though."

"Ness is alright? Thank… thank goodness. Thank you."

"Haha… don't thank me, I did nothing."

Fox leaned against the wall. "Well, now that we're happily reunited, why don't we try to bust out of here?"

"We can't, Fox," came Link's tired voice. "We tried. They took away all our weapons. Lucas' psychic powers don't work against these bars. There's nothing we can do."

Fox sighed. "I can't take it, being cooped up like this," he muttered, his ears twitching.

"But you've only been here for two days," Lucas said. "I've been here for three weeks now. It's okay, you get used to it."

Fox's tail twitched. Mario couldn't help but groan inwardly too.

"Just what are they planning to do to us," he muttered.

"I think they're just trying to keep us from meddling with their plans," Link muttered. "I mean, they're not killing us straight off the bat which makes me suspicious but I really can't complain."

"They have something in store for us," Fox stated. "Otherwise, we'd be dead by now."

Lucas gulped loudly. "Not sure what's gonna be worse…"

A silence filled with dread passed through the jail cells. That was when Mario suddenly remembered.

"You guys, the charms! I passed by Tabuu's gate and saw that the charms were gone!" he cried.

"Yah, they were removed," Lucas said. "When they brought me here, I witnessed Galleom removing them."

"What? How?"

"Do all of you guys know about the shield he stole?"

"Yes," said Mario.

"Yeah, you guys told me about it," said Fox.

"Galloem took the jewels off the shield and fused it with a cannon-like weapon and directed it at the gate. It took two days, I heard the cannon repeated going off, but eventually, the charms broke off. That shield really has some legendary power..."

"No…" Mario whispered. "How could Master Hand's greatest spell…"

"Remember, the spell isn't broken yet," Fox said. "It's only been weakened now that the charms are gone."

"What did they do with them?" Mario asked.

"They scattered them," Link replied. "I overheard Galleom and Meta Ridley planning it out when I was brought here. The charms can't be destroyed or taken out of this world so they scattered them somewhere far apart from each other."

"When we get out of here, we've got to find them," Fox said. "The only problem is, we don't know where they are."


	8. Chapter 7

_Yayay we're onto chapter seven! Enjoy you guys!_

_Warning: this chapter contains one swear word. Cover your eyes, children._

* * *

**Chapter Seven**

"_Ivysaur, return!" Red reached out to catch his pokeball and pocketed it gently. He took a deep breath and looked around._

_Tomorrow was the day. It was finally his turn. Red was nervous. Even though he's trained for months, he couldn't keep calm. He was brimming with anticipation and tension and his pokemon were too._

_As he headed out of the forest and back to the mansion, he spotted a man flying through the trees above him. Yes, flying. When Red first met Pit, the wings had surprised him but he was quite used to it now. Being able to fly so high was a great asset in battle. If Red had to go against Pit, he could only rely on Charizard to reach him._

_Pit also spotted him and flew down effortlessly. _

"_Hey, Red!" he chirped. "Out training?"_

_Red nodded and they headed back together. "Yeah. Are you excited for your turn tomorrow?"_

_Pit nodded and twirled his twin blades. "It'll be fun," he said. "It's just the first round. I'm going against Donkey Kong. What about you?"_

"_Captain Falcon."_

_Pit let out a whistle. "He acts like a goof but he's good," he warned._

"_Yeah, well…" Red tossed a pokeball into the air and caught it. "I'm not losing the first round. How confident are you feeling? Donkey Kong's no pushover either."_

_Pit laughed. "Please, it'll be over in a blink."_

_It sure was._

* * *

"Venusaur, return!" Red watched as his plant pokemon was absorbed into its pokeball.

The nineteen year old pokemon trainer was training in the woods of his hometown, Pallet Town. As the sun began to set, he started to head back home.

"Hey, Green, I'm leaving," Red called out.

The bushes rustled next to him and a spikey haired teen walked out, pokeball in hand. "Heading back so soon?" he asked.

Red ignored the cheek in his voice and adjusted his hat. "What do you have there?" he asked, gesturing the containers Green was holding.

"Samples of vegetation for Grandpa. He wanted to check the pollution levels," Green answered. Recently, he had been doing more research on pokemon just like Professor Oak. It had felt somewhat weird to Red when his rival didn't go on training trips anymore and instead sat in a lab all day. Sure, Green still did train, but Red remembered when he used to _seriously_ train.

"Well, you better start heading back," Red muttered turning away. "Don't want your Grandpa to get worried now, do we?"

"What's up with you?" Judging from his voice, Red could imagine Green's frown on his head. He opened his mouth to answer but found he couldn't.

What _was_ wrong with him?

As he walked home, Red tried to shrug off his irritation. He was restless these days. Nothing happened at all. No legendaries went on rampages, no emergency calls came from other regions. Heck, even Team Rocket seemed to have quieted down.

Red was so distracted by his thoughts he didn't notice the pokemon standing outside of his house until he was right next to it. It stared at him calmly, its red eyes gleaming in the evening light.

A lucario? Red frowned at the pokemon. He wondered if it accidently got lost from its trainer. They weren't native to Pallet Town.

"Have you forgotten your friends already, Red?"

Red took a step back as he recognized the pokemon. It wasn't just any lucario. It was Lucario, one of the selected pokemon that had participated in the Super Smash Tournament years ago! Along with Red and a few others inhabitants in his world, Lucario was a Smasher that had helped defend the universe under the orders of Master Hand.

"Lucario," Red said, still surprised. He hadn't seen him in almost a year now. "It's been so long." Red could feel the annoyed aura emitting from the pokemon for being forgotten and quickly added, "What are you doing here?"

"Looking for you."

"What? Why? What's wrong?"

Lucario's tail swished a few times and he said, "You look well, Red. I'm glad to see that. I should've dropped by more often."

"Oh… same! Last time I saw you, it was back in Sinnoh. How're the other pokedex holders? Have you seen Diamond or Pearl recently?"

"They are all doing fine," Lucario answered. "Diamond and Pearl went on yet another training quest with Platina. They-"

"Oh for goodness sake, can you just tell the man what you came here to tell him?" Red whirled to his right just in time to see a jigglypuff emerge from behind a tree. She puffed her cheeks up in impatience and jumped up and down.

Red understood that Lucario was communicating with him through telepathy but it was quite weird to see a normal pokemon talking. He only understood Jigglypuff because she possessed a teleporter. The pendant did more than just bring its holder across worlds. It translated languages too, which enabled the Smashers to talk to each other. Even though it couldn't teleport him anymore, the teleporter could still enable him to talk to his fellow pokemon Smashers.

"Hey, Jigglypuff," Red said. He saw her around more frequently than Lucario since her home was in Kanto and she often visited him for fighting practice and free food.

"Red, Samus is here."

A short silenced passed. "…Huh?" Red blinked. "Come again?"

"I said Samus, Red. Clean out your ears! Don't you remember her?" Jigglypuff waved her arms around, trying to get the message across. "Now, hurry! She has to talk to us."

Lucario stepped forth before Jigglypuff could drag Red off and calmly said, "Jigglypuff, slow down. You've confused and shocked him."

"Wha- no, I… I'm fine. It's just… wait, what?" Red stopped stuttering and stared at the two. "What did you just say?"

"Do you still remember Samus Aran, a woman whom you met at Smash Kingdom about five years ago?" Lucario asked.

"Of course I know who she is," Red cried. "But why is she here? How… how did she get here? Why are you two acting like this is normal?"

"We were surprised at first too," Lucario assured him. "But don't worry, she really is here. We will bring you to her. Samus said she has something to say to all of us. Could you come with us to Sinnoh right now?"

* * *

"Thanks, Charizard." Red returned his pokemon to his pokeball and tucked it safely away before turning to the others. Lucario and Jigglypuff had ridden on Charizard to Sinnoh with him. Red knew the two didn't like going into pokeballs (or more like adamantly refused) so he offered them a ride.

Hardly a second after Charizard disappeared, Jigglypuff grabbed Red and pulled him towards the woods. She ignored his complaints so Red grudgingly allowed himself to be dragged along. Lucario followed behind them, looking rather amused.

"She's waiting in the woods with Pikachu," Jigglypuff said. "Hurry, hurry!"

"How did she get here?" Red murmured.

"Well, what do you think? With a teleporter, of course."

They found Samus sitting under a tree without her power suit. She was conversing with Pikachu, both of them looking very relaxed and cheerful, when she spotted them coming up.

"You're back," she said, standing up to meet them. Pikachu head-butted Red in greeting before turning to the others. Samus looked up at Red and smiled at his disbelieving face. "Hello, Red. Long time no see."

Samus hadn't changed much. Her long blond hair, like always, was tied into a ponytail and she was still wearing her same old blue zero suit. Her gaze was heavier though, more weighed down, from whatever pains or sorrows she had to go through that Red didn't know about.

He found his voice. "Samus. You're… you're really here."

The tall woman smiled. "By accident really," she admitted. She gestured for him to sit down and Red did so, after taking out Blastoise, Venusaur, and Charizard to listen to her tale. His pokemon all dropped their jaws when they saw the bounty hunter before approaching her cautiously. When they recognized that it was her, they began running around excitedly.

Samus' eyes widened. "Are these your pokemon? They've grown so much!"

Red nodded. "Yeah, Squirtle and Ivysaur evolved into their final forms just like Charizard."

After the pokemons calmed down, Samus began talking. "I've told Pikachu, Lucario, and Jigglypuff my story already." Jigglypuff nodded in agreement and jumped onto her lap the moment she sat down. Pikachu looked irritated at this and proceeded to head-butt her off so he could take her place.

"I was fighting Ridley one day," Samus said. "You know Ridley, the flying reptilian creature that was convinced by Tabuu to live in Smash Kingdom and follow him."

Red nodded, remembering the fearsome predator and Tabuu himself. "Yeah. Just like Master Hand, Tabuu also gathered followers from different worlds," he said. "Some went with him willingly while others he forced, like Raquaza, the legendary flying pokemon he brainwashed from here."

"Yes," Samus said. "Even before I knew of Smash Kingdom, Ridley and I were mortal enemies, constantly engaged in combat. Then, just the other day, I ran into him again." Samus leaned forward and wrapped her arms around the two bickering pokemon on her lap. Pikachu and Jigglypuff settled down though they still glared at each other every few seconds.

"What happened?" Red asked.

"I managed to defeat him," Samus replied. "Then, as he was flying off, he dropped something." She fished a small object out of her pocket and showed it to Red. It was a teleporter.

"…_What?" _Red slowly took it from her and looked the pendant over. It was identical to the one he and the others had. "Ridley had this?"

Samus nodded gravely, taking it back. "And it works. It took me here."

"Red."

Red turned to Jigglypuff who for once, was looking rather serious.

"Samus is going to head back to Smash Kingdom with that teleporter and she's asking us if we want to go with her. She hid her suit nearby because it attracted the attention of the locals but we're gonna go get it and leave. Like, right now."

Red didn't even notice that his mouth was hanging open until he spoke. "Right… right now?"

"Are you prepared Red?" Samus asked. "Or should we give you some time to get ready?"

"Oh, no," Red quickly answered. He was breaking into sweat because he couldn't control his excitement. "I already have Charizard, Venusaur, Blastoise, and some other pokemon with me. Can you just give me a moment to send a quick message to my family?"

"Of course," Samus replied standing up. "Then I'll go retrieve my suit and-"

"Ow! Hey! Let go!"

Red and the others whirled around at the sudden voice. Samus immediately took out her blaster and Red's pokemon drew close to him.

"Wait, wait," Red called out. Now that the sun was almost completely down, he had a hard seeing but the voice sounded familiar.

Lucario suddenly appeared out of the bushes. He was dragging someone with him. A certain spikey haired someone.

"Green!" Red exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

"Followed you," Green muttered, clearly irritated. He shook Lucario off roughly. "I saw you going off with these pokemon and wondered where you were headed so late. Who… who is this?" He caught sight of Samus who was still pointing her blaster at him and quickly reached for his pokeball.

"Green stop," Red said quickly, stepping in between them. "And Samus, it's okay. He's my friend. I just didn't know that he followed me here."

Lucario swished his tail. "He's not dangerous," he said. "I sensed his aura and decided to pull him over in case he ran off. It's best if no humans from this world knew of Samus."

Samus slowly nodded and lowered her gun. Red saw Green slowly relax too.

"Are you Red's friend?" Green asked. "From… what was that place called?"

"Yes, I am Samus Aran," she replied. "I met Red back in Smash Kingdom."

"What are you doing here? Do you need Red for something? He told me that the teleporters no longer worked anymore."

"I came here by accident while trying to control this teleporter," Samus replied, fishing it back out of her pocket. "However, I now need Red's help. And the pokemon's. Could I speak to them in private?"

Green frowned and looked away. Before he had a chance to say anything else, Red grabbed his arm and dragged him out of earshot from the others.

"Green, this has nothing to do with you," Red whispered angrily. "Go back to Pallet Town. It's the dead of night right now!"

Green glared at him. "What?" he whispered back. "And leave you here by yourself?"

"I'm not by myself. Samus' a friend. And you know the pokemon won't hurt me either."

"She's going to take you back there, isn't she?"

"She might," he answered. "…Yeah, she probably will."

"Don't go with her," Green said right away.

Red turned away, took off his cap, and ran a hand through his hair, exasperated. "Green, for the last time, this has nothing to do with you. Something's happening back there. Something… something _bad_. I told you about Tabuu before. Remember him?"

Green nodded slowly and Red continued. "His followers suddenly gain control of Master Hand's space teleporters after all this time. Who knows what's going to happen? Fuck, something might be happening in Smash Kingdom, or some other world, _right now_, and you're telling me to stay here, stay in the dark, after that's all I've been doing for five years?" He turned back to his friend and saw Green staring silently back at him.

Green shook his head slowly. "Don't go back."

"I _have_ to go back," Red growled.

"Will you listen to me for once, Red? Don't do it!" Slowly, the other trainer's voice started to rise.

"Every time," Green spat, glaring at him. "Every time, when you go there, I always wonder when you'll return. Sometimes, you wouldn't for weeks. _Months._ I start to wonder if you'll _ever_ return. You always went so eagerly, and this Smash Kingdom was all you'd ever talk about. We didn't go on trips anymore, or had anymore battles, 'cause you were never here."

Red could do nothing but stare as Green began pacing back and forth, his fists clenched at his sides. His anger and irritation had slowly ebbed away and was now replaced by surprise. Green continued. "And that time. That last time when you came back." His voice broke and he looked away. "You were a mess… You couldn't move for months! I thought you were gonna _die_. What… just what happened to make you like that?"

Red couldn't answer.

"Don't go back there, Red," Green repeated. "I just… I just have a bad feeling about this. Please. You might not come back this time. Don't you understand what I'm saying?"

For as long as Red knew his rival, he never saw Green as angry and upset as he was now. Green was the opposite of him. He thought before acting. He covered Red's back when Red's recklessness gets the better of him. He kept his cool when no one else could. No amount of pressure or strain could get to him. No, nothing at all.

The silence that followed was suffocating but for some reason, Red didn't want to break it. He finally cleared his throat softly, trying to find his voice again.

"Green… I have to go back."

The other boy closed his eyes. He slowly shook his head, clearly not having given up yet so Red continued quickly. "You're right. It is dangerous. But hey." He smiled weakly. "We're pokemon trainers. Danger's never far away, huh? I know how to handle danger."

"Red."

I'm sorry, Green. I really am. I never knew I worried you so much." Red's eyes trailed down. All this time, how could he not have seen how much others were affected by his decisions? "You don't have to worry this time," Red continued quietly. "I won't be gone for long."

"You can't promise that," Green said through gritted teeth. "You might not make it back this time."

"I promise you I will," Red said. "Hey, I've returned every other time, right?"

"But-"

"I'm going back, Green. I have to. I'm sorry."

Red couldn't read his friend's expression. The brown haired teen looked on the verge of either dropping the subject or punching him in the face, Red wasn't sure which. Green's hand drifting towards the pokeballs at his waist and Red suddenly realized his rival he was going to try to stop him by force but in the end, his hand dropped instead.

Green took a deep breath. "You're such a fool, Red…"

Red exhaled silently in relief.

"I'll come back as fast as I can," he assured his friend. "Actually, you don't have the time to sit around and worry either. I need you to do something. You know about Rayquaza, the legendary dragon pokemon right?"

Green frowned at the sudden change of subject. "Yeah…"

"I need you to find him and make sure he doesn't go berserk or disappear for no reason. Tabuu used him before and I need to make sure he doesn't use him again. And it's probably the best if you check on the other legendaries too. Just in case."

Green looked away.

"I need you to do that, alright Green?" Something shiny caught Red's eye and he saw Samus appearing from the trees beside them. She had put on her power suit and was waiting for him with the pokemon. Red nodded at them before turning back to his friend. "I can't waste time right now, sorry. Can you tell my mom that I went on a journey to Sinnoh and won't be back for a while?"

Green didn't say anything but nodded.

"Thanks," Red said quietly as he walked to where the others were waiting.

"We'll teleport right here," Samus told Red. The small group huddled together and Samus took out the teleporter.

"I hope this works," Lucario whispered.

"Will your friend be alright, Red?" Samus asked looking over to where Green stood watching them.

"Yeah," Red answered. "He'll be fine. Let's go quickly."

"Take us to Smash Kingdom," Samus whispered. The pendant began glowing and a portal appeared beneath their feet, basking them in blue light. Jigglypuff and Pikachu gave small gasps. Red turned and saw that Green hadn't left.

"Take care, Green," he murmured.

"A pokemon battle."

"What?" Red frowned, confused.

"When you come back, I challenge you to a pokemon battle. We haven't had one in quite a while." Green smiled. "You better not have gotten rusty."

Red slowly felt his face break into a grin. "Alright I accept," he replied. "Train hard or you'll lose, you know."

Green looked away, the worry returning to his eyes. "Be careful, Red… I can't watch your back when you're over there."

"Of course," Red grinned. He could feel a tingling sensation spreading from his chest to his arms and legs, making him lose feeling in his body. Soon, the forest around him became nothing but a dark blur. "When am I not?"

* * *

_Ahh I love Green too much to not give him a small part. _


	9. Chapter 8

_Hey guys! I'm leaving for vacation tomorrow so I thought I should upload one more chapter before I leave. _

_In answer to the guest the reviewed for my last chapter, yes, it is true that the pokemon world takes more after the manga version since the names of a few pokedex holders were mentioned, but don't worry, it doesn't have a big impact on the story because I highly doubt the pokemon world will appear again. The personality of Red himself takes after whatever I could glean from playing Subspace Emissary (which, granted, isn't much). I know there's many versions of the pokemon trainer Red, from a cold stoic champion winner to a cheerful boy. I'll try my hardest to portray him appropriately. Sorry if you think I used Red from the manga. I assure you, he looks the same way he does in SSBB and uses the same pokemon._

_Please enjoy chapter eight!_

* * *

**Chapter Eight**

_The crowd had cheered like mad after witnessing the first few rounds of the tournament and their cheers haven't gotten any quieter on the fourth day. Samus had to admit, each of the fighters were impressive. They had their own strengths, knew how to deal with their own weaknesses, and are slowly learning those of their opponents. She was watching the last round of the day, Olimar vs Diddy Kong, and both contestants were going against each other with all they had._

"_Go, Diddy!" A few seats down from her sat Donkey Kong. He had just won a few days ago against Pit after grabbing the angel when he flew too close and holding him in a headlock before knocking him out cold. _

"_Diddy Kong's got this," Red mused beside the giant ape. The pokemon trainer had been taken out magnificently by Captain Falcon yesterday but he seemed to have finally gotten over the shock of the defeat. He was now laughing and betting on wins with the others that had already fought._

"_Oh! Look over there!" Wario pointed at the sky and Samus let out a small gasp. Appearing out of nowhere and floating above the fighters was a smash ball, a rare item that granted the power for a Smasher to use their greatest move. Obtaining it could well mean a victory._

_Diddy Kong noticed it first. Quickly dodging Olimar's attack, he jumped into the air and managed to land a punch on the smash ball. Now, it needed two more hits to break. The crowd roared in excitement when Diddy Kong managed to land an attack a second time. Then, all of a sudden, the smash ball veered left towards where Olimar was waiting. The short captain threw a red pikmin at it and it was hit square on. _

_Diddy Kong's jaws dropped. "No way!" he cried._

_Samus blinked. She's never witnessed Olimar's strongest attack before. As she watched intently, a space ship materialized in front of him and the captain quickly climbed in with his pikmins. It blasted off into the air just as the roar of a monster echoed through the stadium. _

_The jaws of the Smashers beside her dropped open. Even Samus had to stare in shock as a wave of red round creatures with snail-like eyes invaded the stadium and began stampeding all over the place. Diddy Kong was helplessly trapped in the mob and his damage intake on the big screen drastically increased. Thankfully, the assault didn't last more than a couple of seconds and the monsters quickly disappeared off the stadium._

_Diddy Kong lay on the ground, dazed, for a few seconds before trying to stand up._

"_Diddy, watch out!" Donkey suddenly yelled, pointing to the sky. Samus looked up to see Olimar's rocket ship come crashing down from the sky. It landed at the centre of the stadium, close to Diddy Kong. Well, more like crash landed. To everyone's surprise, an explosion erupted from where the ship touched down and blew Diddy Kong away, out of the stadium. _

_Master Hand's voice appeared, booming across the arena. "And the winner is… Captain Olimar!"_

_The crowd erupted into cheers as the little captain stepped out of the spaceship with his pikmin companions and waved to the audience. Diddy Kong rematerialized back above the arena on a portal. He and Olimar shook hands and walked off the stage waving as the applause continued._

"_Olimar's pretty tough!" Red breathed._

"_So that's what his final smash is," Pit said. "This is the first time Olimar used it. At least now we know what to expect."_

_Samus dipped her head in agreement and clapped softly as she watched the fighters exit the stage. They were indeed strong but after witnessing the battle, she learned some important information about their fighting styles._

_Samus had already won her fight against Yoshi two days ago but she knew that in order to continue winning in the tourney, she had to observe her future opponents' fighting styles as thoroughly as possible to gain the advantage. Not everyone revealed what they were capable of during training._

_Olimar's victory wrapped up the first part of the tournament. Samus couldn't wait for round two._

* * *

When Samus opened her eyes, the first thing she noticed was Red standing at her right and Lucario to her left. Pikachu brushed past her leg and took a few tentative steps forward as if testing if the world they were standing in was real.

Samus saw Red's eyes widen in awe as he took in the sight around them. The pokemons were all silent too. They stared at the empty space surrounding them without a word as the wind whistled past.

They were standing back on the old sky arena, the place that had held so many memorable fights so long ago. The once beloved arena seemed to have been abandoned. For how long, Samus wasn't sure. She looked up to the large screen that Master Hand had appeared on when he first spoke to them. The glass was cracked and the screen was pitch black. Debris and cobwebs littered the floor. The place that once held so many festivities now felt eerie and hollow.

Jigglypuff finally spoke. "We're… back?" Her voice sounded tiny, breaking the silence of the huge arena. She turned around to meet their eyes. "We're actually back in Smash Kingdom…"

Red, who had taken his pokemon out for them to take a look around, gave her a small pat on the head. "Yes, we're back," he said. His voice was firm with certainty but his eyes were grim.

"Samus," Pikachu said, his ears flicking in confusion. "What do we do now?"

Samus hesitated, looking around. She could see the town, or what was left of it, in the distance. A huge portion of it was enveloped in dark material. Subspace. The evil entity Tabuu had tried to use to swallow up the world.

Pikachu also noticed it. "The subspace is still there," Pikachu said. "From the looks of it, Tabuu is still sealed in it by Master Hand."

Samus nodded. "We need to get to the castle. Find someone, anyone, and find out what happened ever since we left."

The others nodded in agreement and headed for the exit.

"How will we get down to the ground?" Lucario asked. When they used to hold tournaments, Master Hand had jokingly told all the Smashers they had to find their own way up to get to the floating stadium. Some lucky contestants that had some method of flying easily made it. Samus herself had always asked Fox if she could hitch a ride on top his arwing and the pilot had never said no.

"Don't worry, I'll ask Charizard to make a few trips and get us down," Red said, bringing out the fire pokemon. "Samus, you and Pikachu can go first."

"I can float down myself," Jigglypuff said. "See you guys in a bit."

After everyone safely made it to the ground, they began the long walk back to the town through the plains.

"It's so empty here," Pikachu whispered. A sudden rustle of leaves caused him to jump, accidently shocking the pokemon trainer who was beside him.

"It's alright, Pikachu," Samus said. "It's only the wind."

"Where are all the people of this world?" Jigglypuff asked.

"I'm assuming they just moved far away from this town." Lucario narrowed his eyes and stared ahead. "We're getting closer to the subspace. It's just beyond that hill."

"Hey!" Red motioned for them to stop with his hands. "Primids up ahead!"

Samus and Lucario ducked down but Pikachu and Jigglypuff ran ahead. They caught the three primids by surprise and took them out with a quick tail whip and tackle move.

"Not so fast, you guys," Red said running up to them. "We don't want to attract attention."

"There's more coming," Lucario said.

The group quickly ducked behind some trees and watched as another group of primids walked past them.

"How many of them are there?" Samus whispered.

Lucario's eyes glowed. "About five."

"There's probably a lot more by the subspace," Jigglypuff replied. "I think they're patrolling this area."

"Then we need to somehow find a way to Smash Mansion without attracting their attention," said Pikachu.

Samus nodded. "They're gone. Let's get a move on. Head for the forest."

The group ran as quickly and stealthily as they could with Pikachu, being the smallest, at the front, in case anymore primids appeared behind the hills. The tall grass also hid them away from the primids' eyes as they reached the cover of the trees.

"It'll take longer to get to the town through the forest but at least they can't see us in here," Red said as they all visibly relaxed.

"Let's keep moving then," said Lucario.

As they walked past the huge dome of subspace, Pikachu growled. "I don't like how it's still here," he said, glaring at the black entity in the distance.

"Tabuu's still inside," Jigglypuff murmured. "That's got to be why there's so many primids here."

"We'll deal with them later," Samus said. "I want to see if the mansion is still there."

"The town's over here." Red frowned they approached the town.

There was nothing left of it but bits of wood and cement. Some old buildings remained standing but were left in terrible shape. After checking for enemies, they cautiously approached the town.

"I can't sense any humans here," Lucario said quietly.

Red kicked away some dirt as they walked down a cement sidewalk. Some parts of the road still existed. Other parts that had been blown off had grass and weeds growing over the craters. The group didn't say anything and instead trained their eyes on the ahead, looking for the enemy.

Smash Mansion was just on the outskirts of town, quite some ways away from the subspace. Samus gladly walked in the direction opposite to where the primids were and hoped that there were none in the streets. She spoke too soon.

A group of primids came out of a building ahead of them and spotted them. Screeching, they charged. At once, Red had Blastoise out and the primids were blown away by a blast of water from its cannons before they could do anything.

"Shit, the others might've heard them," Red whispered.

"Let's run," Jigglypuff cried.

The small group forgot about being cautious and instead sprinted in the direction of the mansion. As they climbed up a small hill, they saw it.

"It's there!" Jigglypuff gasped. "Smash Mansion's still there!"

Sure enough, Samus could see the mansion in the distance. It still looked the same as how they last left it, with the windows shattered and the front doors broken down but it still stood magnificently high above them as they approached closer. One of the pillars on the front porch was on the verge of collapse. Samus winced, remembering how Duon had set off an explosion in the front of the mansion five years ago to lure them out.

"Be careful," Samus said as they ran inside. She raised her cannon arm as she quickly scanned the great hall before running off.

"Samus, where're you going?" Red called.

"To Master Hand's control room," she replied, climbing up the stairs.

"The control room?" Red jumped over some fallen ceiling lights. "What're you planning to do there?"

"I'll see when I get there. There must be something I can do."

Red and the pokemon followed her up to the second story and past the dormitories. None of them had ever been in Master Hand's control room but they knew where it was. It was the only door they weren't allowed to open but Samus passed by it many times.

"We're here," Samus said, opening the doors.

When she looked inside, Samus expected to see a room full of computers and machines, which she did. What she didn't expect was that they were actually working and being operated by a dozen of primids at the moment. The little robots also looked up in surprise when she threw the door open. They stared for about two seconds before letting out an angry screech and throwing themselves at the door.

Samus backed up instinctively, knocking into Red and pushing him back with her. Pikachu, Lucario, and Jigglypuff jumped into her place, ready to attack the primids.

"Don't hurt the computers!" Samus cried.

Pikachu, who was about to cast a thunderbolt, stopped and instead waited for the primids to come out of the room. As the others finished the soldiers off in the hallway, Samus ran into the control room and glanced around wildly. She quickly took off her power suit and placed it aside before heading for the central computer, and scanning the massive screen. When she got her bearings, her fingers started moving on their own on the keyboard.

"Samus? What're you up to?" Red asked from behind her.

"Trying to figure this out," Samus muttered. She pressed on a file on the computer and it opened. "See this? It shows what world the teleporters are in at the moment. Tabuu's henchmen already know this. Oh!"

"What is it?" asked Lucario. He and all the others were crowding around her, trying to read the monitor.

"They made new teleporters and deactivated the old ones!" Samus gasped. "See this list here? It's the codenames of our teleporters! They've all been shut off!"

"Can the old teleporters be reactivated?" Red asked quickly.

"I don't know… I'll try." Samus typed furiously on the keyboard. "No… shit!"

"Password?" Red squinted, reading off the screen. He gave Samus a blank look which she returned.

"I don't know Master Hand's password," she whispered.

"But how… how could the primids have figured it out?" Jigglypuff exclaimed. "I mean, it's _Master Hand's_ computer!"

"They… they hacked into the system?" Samus was at a loss for words. "How can they… I didn't know primids were capable of processing such complex information!"

"They didn't."

The group whirled around at the voice. Pikachu and Lucario immediately stepped in front, ready to confront. Purple aura encased Lucario's fists and electricity cracked around Pikachu's cheeks.

"I didn't sense an aura…" Lucario whispered. "Be careful, he's strong."

Someone standing outside, partially hidden behind the wall. Samus frowned, trying to make out who it was. The voice didn't sound like someone she knew. She heard Jigglypuff gasp beside her.

"Master Hand?" she cried.

"What?" Red lowered his pokeball. His eyes widened as he got a better look.

Lucario and Pikachu hesitated too. The figure at the door slowly came in and everyone immediately gasped and took a step back.

It was a giant gloved hand.

Hovering slightly off the ground, it floated towards them. For a moment, Samus really thought that their much missed benefactor had survived the last war and was now standing, alive and well, in front of them, but she suddenly realized that something was off. The hand seemed to be twitching every few seconds as it got closer. That was nothing like Master Hand's usual graceful glide.

It spoke. "Master Hand? Did you just call me Master Hand?" Its voice had a hard edge to it, as if it was scoffing.

Samus cursed inwardly. She had taken off her suit to work the computer but now had no time to put it back on. The others crowded protectively around her.

"Who are you?" Red yelled. "If you're not Master Hand, then who are you?"

"Yes, Master Hand," the giant gloved hand mused. "It's been long since I last heard that name."

Pikachu twitched his ears. "You know Master Hand?"

"Well… he is my brother after all."

"What?" Jigglypuff's jaws dropped. "Master Hand… had a brother?"

Red frowned. "Master Hand never told us he had a brother…"

"It was I who wanted it that way. You see, I don't like crowding around people. Too bothersome." The hand began convulsing and the others stepped back. It suddenly returned to normal again and it went on as if nothing happened. "My brother just haaaad to invite all of you to our kingdom, against my advice. I didn't like the idea so I left."

"You left?" Pikachu inquired. "For how long?"

"Well, when I came back…" The hand gestured to the outside. "… all this had already happened."

Lucario relaxed slightly. "What's your name?"

"Crazy Hand."

Samus couldn't help thinking how suitable it was for him.

Crazy Hand continued. "So you're these… Smashers… that Master Hand had recruited? Why have you come back here?"

"It's because we're trying to stop Tabuu, of course!" Jigglypuff cried. "Wait, a minute, you've been here all this time? Why aren't you trying to stop his army? They're going to bring him back and you're letting the primids come in and out of this room as they please?"

Crazy Hand gave a sharp spasm as if he was shrugging. "None of my business."

Samus stepped forward. "When you were still outside, you told us that they didn't hack into the computer. Then how did they manage to control the teleporters?"

Crazy Hand cackled. "I gave them the password."

Samus felt her heart fall like a brick. Red's face paled and Pikachu made a small disbelieving noise.

"Why would you do that?" Lucario asked, his eyes glowing dangerously. "Do you know what they are trying to do to this world?"

Crazy Hand shrugged. "Really none of my business. I just felt like it at the time, so I did it. It's gotten sooo boring here. I figured some excitement was needed to brighten up this dull place."

Jigglypuff took a deep breath. "What's wrong with you?" she cried, bouncing up to him. Red had to grab her and pulled her back. "Don't you care what happens to this world that your brother loved?"

"He was a fool," Crazy Hand said. "I told him all that he was doing was useless but he didn't listen. Persistence is a common trait among fools."

Jigglypuff's eyes brimmed with angry tears. "How can you say that?" she yelled. "Master Hand… he gave his life for Smash Kingdom! Everything he did… it was for Smash Kingdom!"

"Don't forget, even though he had true intentions, none of his plans succeeded," Crazy Hand said darkly. He suddenly turned back to the door. "Oh? Seems like things are going to get interesting."

Lucario's eyes widened. "Do you guys feel it?" he whispered. "The floor's trembling."

Pikachu ran outside and looked out the window. His ears flattened down against his head. "Guys!" he yelled. "Guys, there's something coming!"

Sure enough, as she reached the window, Samus could see that far off in the distance, the ground appeared to be moving like a wave. "Those are primids…" She tried to keep the shock out of her voice. "At least a thousand…"

"Wh… what do we do?" Jigglypuff asked fearfully. The others were all staring, too shock to answer her. The army of enemy soldiers were approaching fast. "They must've seen the mess we made back in town."

Samus gulped. It was now or never.

"Can you four do something for me?" Samus asked, trying to calm her heart. "Keep them out of the mansion for five minutes. Five minutes is all I ask."

"Samus? What're you going to do?" Pikachu asked.

"I have to try to hack into the computer. At least try."

"Or you can just ask me," Crazy Hand smirked from behind them.

Samus calmly looked over to where he was, leaning against the doorway, watching them panic with amusement.

"And if I did, Mister Crazy Hand, would you really tell me?" she asked.

Crazy Hand didn't answer.

"I thought so. Five minutes, guys."

"Got it," Red yelled, already running down the stairs with Lucario and Jigglypuff.

"Good luck, Samus," Pikachu said, sprinting after them.

Samus immediately headed back into the computer room, her mind already going over everything that she remembered from Master Hand. She tried other ways of accessing his computer files but everything required a password. She attempted to guess every password she could think of, but in the end, it was futile, like she expected. Master Hand's password could've been a long string of numbers for all she knew.

Master Hand's super computer was slightly different than the ones back in her world but Samus knew enough to try out a few things. She rebooted the computer, opened its safe mode, and continued on quickly, her fingers flying across the keyboard.

"Oh, you're trying to hack into it?" Crazy Hand observed from beside her. "It's not going to work, you know. My brother wouldn't allow things like that to happen."

As if to prove him right, a pop up denied her access. Samus growled in frustration.

Crazy Hand was now outside at the window and he felt the need to keep her up to date with what was happening outside. "Ooh the primids are almost here. Your friends went out to meet them. I think they're trying to distract them and lead them away. Wow the small one took out five at once with its lightning! And is that a fire dragon? That guy's got some dangerous pets."

Samus chewed on her lips as she tried to concentrate, her breathing growing more and more heavy as she grew more and more distracted.

"Oh nope… it seems their plan failed. The primids are running this way after all, even though they're causing quite a ruckus."

Everything she was trying wasn't working. Nothing, nothing was working! Samus slammed her hands down on the keyboard.

"Oh no… it seems that little pink creature is losing. She's too far from the others."

Samus almost fell to her knees. They were trembling and she didn't even realize. "Mister Crazy Hand, please…" She said in a small, hoarse voice.

From the tone of Crazy Hand's voice, he seemed please that he got a response. "Yes, what is it?"

"Please quickly leave the mansion."

Instead of receiving a sarcastic reply, Crazy Hand actually hesitated. "What did you say?"

Samus wiped her brow. Her bangs were plastered to her forehead from sweat. She straightened up and took a deep breath, trying to regain her focus. "I will keep working on this, along with the others," she told him. "It's best if you escaped though. I doubt the mansion will hold if the primids are not stopped."

Crazy Hand dropped his teasing tone. "You know you will not succeed," he said. "The primids might kill your friends out there."

"Not yet," Samus whispered fiercely. "As long as we still have time, we will all fight to our last breath. But I don't want you caught up in this, Mister Crazy Hand. You say that you do not care for the kingdom but I do not think that is the case. After all, why did you come back? You came back and you stayed, even though everyone else left. "

Crazy Hand did not say anything.

"Besides, I also don't think Master Hand would want his brother to get hurt," Samus continued. "Master Hand trusted us and I don't want to disappoint him."

"He's dead."

Samus shook her head. "His kingdom still lives. And we, as his chosen ones, will stop at nothing to save it. That's what it means to be a Smasher." She turned to look at Crazy Hand. "You can believe in us, you know. While you still have time, please entrust this to us and leave."

Samus returned to her work after that.

_There still must be some way,_ she thought, as she scanned past pages and pages of information. To her dismay, Master Hand's computer was one of the most complex ones she's ever seen, if not the most. As it dragged on, she was having a harder and harder time keeping the dread from clawing up her stomach.

Samus was used to working under pressure but there was something different about this time. Everyone was relying on her- not just the Smashers outside but also the ones still trapped back in their own world. And she was also hard pressed for time. If she couldn't save her friends outside, if one of them… died…

"Audi famam illius."

Even though her mind was about to explode from trying to block out the panic and focusing on concentration, Samus somehow managed to hear those words. She turned around to see Crazy Hand who had been quiet for some time.

"Pardon?"

Crazy Hand scoffed and headed towards the door. "It was a stupid story we heard a long, long time ago. I took it as what it was- a story. I think it sat a little deeper with my idiot brother though. The spelling is the exact same as the pronunciation." Crazy Hand paused before he left. "I'll take your advice this time, Miss, but you better make sure this mansion still remains in one piece when I come back. I've grown quite fond of it in these last few years. Well then… see ya."

With a quick snap of his fingers, Crazy Hand faded away and disappeared.

Samus finished typing in the password before she could even catch her breath. When the computer finally allowed her in, she almost sobbed in relief.

It took two seconds for her to restart the teleporters. She pressed the 'activate' button on the screen and waited. The computer hummed and words appeared on the screen.

_Teleporter number one. Activation success._

Samus quickly changed around its setting to allow automatic teleportation to Smash Kingdom and then moved on to the second one. She trembled in excitement as teleporters two, three, and four, all activated in the matter of minutes.

_Please, oh please hurry_, Samus thought. She wondered how the others were doing outside. They probably couldn't hold out for much longer.

A sudden loud noise came from downstairs and made Samus jump. It sounded like a wall being broken down. She heard Red's voice, loud and frantic.

"Samus, they're upstairs!"

Samus could hear footsteps coming closer. She swore under her breath and took out her paralyzer, aiming it at the door. A primid had just opened it when Pikachu rammed into the robot, sending them both crashing down the hall.

Samus ran to the door. "Pikachu!"

"It's alright Samus, you keep working." Sparks flew from the electric mouse's cheeks. "I won't let anyone enter!"

"Alright, thanks! You just have to hold on for a while longer!"

Samus quickly headed back to the computer. She could hear fights breaking out all over the mansion as the primids finally began breaking past the Smashers.

It seemed to take forever, waiting for the computer to load while hearing loud crashing noises left, right, and below her, but she finally managed to activate the thirty fifth one. Samus pushed herself away from the computer, took in a deep breath, and straightened up. Her job here was done.

She still had to help out everyone outside. The bounty hunter quickly put back on her power suit and ran out the door.


	10. Chapter 9

_Hello everyone! I'm back! _

_I'm so sorry this chapter took so long! T-T_

* * *

**Chapter Nine**

_Pikachu wasn't in a good mood. Nope, no he was not._

_He had lost to Link, by a hair's breadth, a few days earlier. Even now, Pikachu couldn't forget how close he'd been to winning. The pokemon wasn't used to losing, not when he defeated every single trainer that had tried to catch him ever since he was a pichu, so he wasn't used to the immense feeling of frustration that it brought. _

_Just as Pikachu walked out the door, he ran into Samus, who was on her way back with Snake. They had become good friends during training, just like how Pikachu got to know Samus a few months ago when they first started practicing together._

"_Hey, Pikachu," she called. "Heading out?" _

_Pikachu nodded. "Just for a walk," he replied. "Where did you go?"_

"_We just went for a walk too," Samus said, nodding at Snake. "Trying to calm our minds to get ready for the second round that's starting tomorrow."_

_Even though Pikachu was angry that he didn't make it, he felt excited for Samus. "Oh yeah, it's tomorrow," he said. "Who're you up against first?" _

"_Uh…" Samus glanced at the man beside her. Snake looked back indifferently._

"_Oh…" Pikachu nodded. "Well, good luck to you both."_

"_Don't need it," Snake smirked before walking into the house._

_Samus smiled and rolled her eyes. "He's going to lose," she told Pikachu before also walking inside._

_Pikachu kept walking down the path. He bumped into some other Smashers as he entered town. It was Marth, Ike, and Meta Knight. _

_Ike was rubbing his temple as he walked. "I can't believe I'm up against another kid," he muttered. _

"_You shouldn't underestimate Ness you know," Meta Knight said. "His psychic abilities more than make up for what he lacks in physical strength."_

_Marth waved at Pikachu as they passed. "Hey there Pikachu! You heading to town?"_

_Pikachu nodded. "Just getting some fresh air."_

_Pikachu watched the trio of swordsmen walk back to Smash Mansion and sighed. All three of them made it to the second round too._

_It was a hot summer day so Pikachu headed for the forest, wanting some shade and solitude. He almost made it, when he bumped into Nana, Popo, Ness, Lucas, Diddy Kong, and Toon Link. The youngest group of Smashers were kicking around a soccer ball. Except the game they were playing wasn't exactly old fashioned soccer._

"_Pass to me, Lucas!" Ness sprinted past the others._

_Lucas kicked the ball towards him but it was intercepted by Popo. Nana and Toon Link perked up at this._

"_Get it to Toon Link!" Nana cried, blocking off Diddy Kong's path. The two began exchanging blows with their hammer and peanut gun as Popo ran past. A couple of passing townspeople quickly ducked out of the way of their "soccer game"._

"_No, you don't!" Ness cried, shooting a PK fire at Popo. The ice climber dodged and conjured up a block of ice from mid-air which he launched at Ness with his hammer. As he was preoccupied, Lucas swiped the soccer ball and ran in the other direction._

"_Ack!" A chain latched itself onto Lucas' arm and stopped him from moving. Instead of going after the ball, Toon Link waved his sword wildly, more eager to attack Lucas. As the two of them grappled, the ball rolled to Ness._

"_Toon Link, take this!" Ness yelled, stamping his foot into the ground. Sparks flew around his feet and cackled with energy. He gave the ball a furious kick and it shot like a bullet through the air. Toon Link yelped and threw himself onto the ground and the soccer ball crashed into the walls of a building behind him._

_Ness gulped._

_The soccer ball exploded on impact and the concrete wall wasn't spared either. A crater appeared from where it was struck. Cracks traveled down the sides until the entire thing was split in half. As Pikachu watched, the wall crumbled to the ground, revealing a few very surprised people inside. One of them was on the toilet reading a newspaper._

_Ness' jaw dropped. "I-I'm sorry!" he cried, turning to his friends… only to find that they had all ran off._

_Pikachu decided to leave then too, before he got roped into the mess. Although he felt somewhat guilty for leaving Ness by himself, it didn't stop him from sprinting full speed towards the forest. _

"_Geez, how am I supposed to find peace and quiet…" the electric mouse thought to himself. "When everyone here is crazy?"_

_Pikachu walked a bit further than he usually would that day. It was a nice day and he didn't have any other plans so he strolled until he couldn't see the town anymore. As he kept walking in the forest, he slowly forgot about all his worries and instead allowed himself to enjoy the cool summer breeze that blew through his fur. _

_Pikachu hated being cooped up which is why he remained a wild pokemon. Although he never had a trainer, he was still exceptionally strong compared to the other pokemon in Viridian Forest and never had any trouble defeating humans who had tried to capture him. He was lucky that he was born with greater physical strength and electric powers than others of his species. It had helped him survive by himself. _

_Pikachu didn't head back to the mansion for lunch and instead ate some berries he found on some bushes. He also found a small bubbling stream and decided to follow it so he wouldn't get lost. The thought of heading back only occurred to him when he noticed that it was already late afternoon._

_Was the day about to be over already? Pikachu shook out his fur and sighed. He should get going. It would be night by the time he reached town and Master Hand wouldn't like it if he missed curfew. _

_Pikachu was about to head back when he noticed something moving, causing the leaves to rustle on the nearby bushes._

_He frowned, cautiously approaching the bush. Something crawled out from underneath. At first, Pikachu thought it was just a bug when numerous others began to appear. They were dark purple in colour and didn't seem to have a distinct shape, just a spherical form._

_Pikachu backed up in surprise. _

_The little orbs clumped together and slowly merged into the form of a green humanoid creature. It twitched as it was fully formed. Then, it turned to him, its red eyes unblinking, and attacked._

_Pikachu took it down quickly with a thunderbolt before it even got close. As he watched, the creature dissolved back into its previous dark particles which scattered._

_Pikachu stood and watched, his heart thumping in his chest. Whatever that just was, it wasn't very strong, but it didn't naturally belong in the forest, that's for sure._

"_Was that Master Hand's creation?" he thought to himself. For some reason, he didn't think so. The green creature had given off a different feeling that didn't seem to belong to Smash Kingdom._

_Pikachu turned and ran for the town. He had to tell Master Hand right away._

* * *

Pikachu growled as the fur on his back bristled. As Samus tried to work the computer, he and the others had fought desperately to buy her some precious minutes.

The pokemon had distracted the primids while Red had Venusaur and Charizard use a combined attack. Venusaur attacked with petal blizzard and the second the flowers settled down, Charizard's fire spin blew past the area, roasting everything it touched. Using the flower petals to fuel the flame made the primids catch on fire in an instant. As they were defeated, their body split off into tiny dark purple orbs and dissipated into the air.

Pikachu's heart dropped as he scanned around for his friends. They were being separated as the primids were slowly winning. He suddenly heard a cry from Jigglypuff and turned around just in time to see her being buried under a mass of soldiers. Pikachu jumped into the air and shot a thunderbolt at one of them. His moves were extremely effective against the primids because they conducted electricity. The thunderbolt traveled from one of them to the rest and they all convulsed and fell.

When the primids began to ignore them and slip past, Lucario ran in front of the entrance and repelled any robots that came up with his aura sphere. The other Smashers drew close to him, slowly being forced back to the front door.

"We're running out of time," Red grimaced.

Pikachu had to agree with him. They had only taken down a hundred or so and more were appearing from far away, still running through the town. They were all slowly gathering, getting ready to charge.

"Guys, back up." Red stepped in front of them. "Charizard, Venusaur, Blastoise!" he yelled. His three pokemon that had been wreaking havoc amidst the primids quickly returned to his side.

"You guys ready? We're going to combine your attacks!" The pokemon's eyes widened and they gathered close. Pikachu could see them tense up, ready to react on Red's command. The flower on Venusaur's back began to glow.

Red pointed to the middle of the army. "NOW! Venusaur, Solar Beam! Charizard, Fire Blast! Blastoise, Hydro Pump!"

A brilliant beam of light expelled from Venusaur back, which was quickly combined with the water from Blastoise's cannons and Charizard's fiery breath. The attack blew straight through the middle of the army, creating a vortex that lifted primids off their feet. The small soldiers flew into the air, breaking into pieces. Pikachu and the others ducked as the strong wind also blew them back. The attack traveled all the way back towards the hills and after it was over, the primid army was split into two, right down the centre.

"The Triple Finish!" Jigglypuff remembered in awe. "Wasn't this the move you used as your final smash during the tournaments? It's gotten a lot stronger."

Red nodded. "Yeah, it has, after Squirtle and Ivysaur leveled up," He replied. "To make it fair, Master Hand only allowed me to take out three pokemon after I obtained the Smash Ball. If it weren't for that, I'd win easily," he joked, smiling before turning serious again. "Be careful, you guys, these robots are far from finished."

Lucario nodded. "You're right. There's still around five hundred left."

After the attack was over, Charizard, Blastoise, and Venusaur all lowered their heads, clearly exhausted. "You did good, you guys," Red said to them as he returned them to their pokeball. "You took out half their army."

He took three more pokeball out of his pocket. Lapras, Snorlax, and another pikachu appeared in a flash. They looked at the other pokemon beside them and called out a quick greeting.

Even though Red never used his other three pokemon back in the tournaments, the others still know about them. Lucario nodded and Jigglypuff waved.

"Pika!" Pikachu nudged the Red's pikachu's face in greeting. They were good friends.

Red grinned. "You guys ready? They're almost finished regrouping." Sure enough, the primids seemed to have gotten over the shock of the great attack and was growing angry again.

"No need to tell us," Jigglypuff said using defense curl on herself. "It's pokemon they're messing with! I'll kill them!"

Pikachu stepped forward, gathering electricity in his cheeks. "Lucario, if any of them gets into the house, message us!"

Lucario nodded. "Of course."

Pikachu then charged into the fray, electrocuting everything in his way. He could vaguely see Jigglypuff to his right and Snorlax lumbering around to his left but soon, he was moving so fast everything passed by him like a blur. He had the easiest time with the primids because he was the fastest and the primids couldn't touch him in fear of being electrocuted. Pikachu wasn't sure how many he took down before he heard Lucario's voice ringing in his head.

"I need help! They've entered the house!"

Pikachu skidded to halt as panic jolted through him. "Samus!" he thought, immediately turning back. He dodged through the primids and saw that the soldiers were filing in through the door. Pikachu buried himself between them. When he got to the door, he unleashed a thunderbolt, blowing the primids away from the entrance. Lucario then took his place guarding the door as he ran inside. Red was already inside with his pikachu and lapras.

"Samus, they're upstairs," the trainer hollered towards the stairs. Sure enough, Pikachu saw some primids running up to second floor. He bristled with anger and sprinted after them, shooting electric sparks at the ones he passed. When Pikachu reached the second floor, his heart raced when he saw a primid opening the door to the control room.

"Pika!" With a flying head butt, Pikachu sent the primid flying down the hall. He clawed at its head, ripping it to pieces. That was too close. They almost got to Samus.

"Pikachu!" Samus had come out of the room.

"It's alright Samus, you keep working," he assured her. "I won't let anyone enter!"

"Alright, thanks! You just have to hold on for a while longer." Samus looked tired but from the way her eyes were shining, he figured she had succeeded in something.

Pikachu looked down the interior balcony at the great hall below and saw more primids appeared. They were getting past Lucario at the front door and Red who had now backed up to the stairs. Pikachu was the last line of defense. He growled. No one was getting past him.

All of his friends were growing exhausted. Lucario was busy trying to provide support to both the battle going on outside and inside the house. Sweat dripped down Red's face and he fought alongside Lapras, commanding his pokemon while slicing down primids with one of their swords he picked up. They were losing. They were losing bad.

Pikachu tried to contact Lucario through his thoughts. "Lucario, can you hear me?"

He heard the other pokemon's reply, quick and staggered, his attention clearly somewhere else. "What?"

"How's the situation outside?" Pikachu asked quickly.

"Well… not good. Jigglypuff and Snorlax are with me but we're not going to last another min- what the?"

That was when a glint of light from something outside the window caught Pikachu's eyes.

"WA-HOOOO!"

Something white streaked through the front window, shattering the glass into a million shimmering pieces, and flew towards the ceiling, doing loops in the air.

"Whoa!"

The man lost his balance as he smacked his face into the ceiling. He half flew, half fell for a while, flapping his wings like a pidgey that had fallen in water. Pikachu expected him to crash land onto the floor. To his surprise, the newcomer quickly regained control. His wings began glowing in a mysterious blue light as he dodged walls and obstacles that came too close with shocking speed.

Streaks of blue shot around the great hall, piercing through several surprised primids. The arrows had no solid form. As the soldiers fell, they disappeared in a flash of light.

The newcomer stopped flying crazily and looked around, seeing Red who had also ducked out of the way of the arrows.

"Great Palutena, is that you, Red?" He yelled. He looked up to the second story, his wide blue eyes meeting Pikachu's. "And Pikachu? Whooa!"

Red and Pikachu yelled out his name at the same time.

"PIT!"

Pit grinned, twirling his twin blades. His look hasn't changed from before. He still wore his white tunic with sandals and wielded the bow of Palutena.

His personality hadn't changed either.

The angel's face stretched into a smug grin as if he believed his entrance was actually cool. "So you guys are back too?" he called, looking down from the ceiling. "It was so weird! I just finished taking a shower when I suddenly found myself back on the sky arena! Good thing my 'porter didn't activate a minute sooner, haha- Whoa, watch out!"

Red, who had been gaping up at the angel, didn't see the enemy behind him until it was too late. Pikachu was certain the pokemon trainer was going to receive a beam sword through his head when, out of nowhere, something crashed right through the mob of soldiers, intercepted the attack, and sent them all flying away. A blue blur hurtled across the room, rolled to a stop, stood up, and dusted himself off.

"Hey, can we chat later?" The thin creature with spikey hair looked over lazily at them. "We kinda have to take care of some unwanted guests."

Red's eyes widened even more. "_Sonic?"_

Pit grinned as he continued to shoot arrows. "Alright, chat after we kick ass. Funny I beat you here though! Thought you'd be first."

Sonic smirked up at the angel. "What're you talking about; I've been here for quite a while now. I was just too busy pummeling these guys to stand around and talk like you."

Chaos ensued in the bottom floor as the fighters jumped back into battle. Pikachu summoned lightning to help them out from above and took down whatever primids that managed to make it up the stairs but they seemed to be no end to them.

"Yow!"

Someone was coming in the front door again.

Pikachu heard the roar of a motorcycle and saw it crash through the primids gathered at the entrance a second later. A short chubby man wearing purple suspenders and a yellow hat jumped off his ride as it rammed several primids into the wall.

"Why's it so crazy here?" Wario yelled, smashing his way through to the others.

"Wario!" Pikachu cried. "You're here too!"

Wario yelled back, punching a primid's head off. "What. The. Hell. Is going on?" He punched a soldier with every word he spoke.

Something out of the corner of his eye caught Pikachu's attention. "Tell you later," he told Wario. "Just get rid of these things first!"

Pikachu zapped another soldier that came too close and backed up towards the control room. He suddenly heard the door click open and saw Samus reappear in her power suit.

She called him over. "Pikachu! I've finished with the teleporters! How's everyone doing?"

"We're doing fine," he replied excitedly. "Samus, others are beginning to show up! It's all thanks to you!"

Samus smiled at him through her helment. "And thank you for distracting the enemy for so long."

They ran down the hall towards the balcony where primids collided with them. Samus didn't use her canon in fear of blowing the mansion apart but she still dealt deadly kicks with her suit on. Pikachu was about to head down the stairs when he spotted a primid on the ground suddenly latch onto the bounty hunter's ankle, tripping her. Others immediately took this chance and jumped onto her with swords.

"Samus!" Pikachu yelled hurrying back.

A dark figure suddenly flipped over the balcony. With a swift kick, he sent the primids flying into the wall. When three turned around to face him, he grabbed them by their faces and threw them over the balustrade and watched as they fell.

Samus blinked in surprise behind her helmet when she saw his face. "Sn-Snake!" she stuttered.

The tall man turned and helped her up. "Not looking so good, are you bounty hunter?"

Pikachu exhaled in relief. "I'm going to head down and help the others," he told them.

Samus nodded. "I'm going stay on the second floor to guard the controls room. We cannot, at any cost, let them reach the computers."

"I'll stay with her," Snake said.

Pikachu nodded, feeling much more relieved that Samus won't be by herself. "Good to see you, Snake!" he called as he ran down the stairs.

Pikachu had thought that it had been chaotic on the second floor, but that didn't even begin to describe the scene on the first. Everywhere he looked, he saw the bodies of primids, pieces of broken furniture flying across the room, and occasionally, an attack from a Smasher. He could hear noises, too. Mostly the angry hissing of the soldiers or the loud crashes of a brawl.

Fights were breaking out all over the mansion. Pikachu could hear Pit's yells coming from the main hallway and as he got closer, he could pick up the sharp slicing sounds of Palutena's bow as the angel cut down enemy after enemy.

Pikachu thought he was in the main hallway but somehow, he ended up beside Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong in the living room. The two of them were screeching and using chairs as weapons, throwing them across the room. Pikachu was about to jump in and help when a punch flew out of nowhere and knocked him into the room across the hall and he suddenly found himself beside Yoshi. The dinosaur gave a fierce kick that sent five primids flying away before spotting Pikachu.

Yoshi waved before returning to battle. "Hey, Pikachu!"

Pikachu smiled back but his attention was quickly drawn away again as the door to the room ahead suddenly broke off its hinges with a loud snap. He ran there to check the commotion.

Nana trampled out of the meeting room, screaming and ramming in the faces of nearby primids with her hammer. She had grown taller but he still recognized her from her pink jacket and brown hair.

"Hi, Nana!" Pikachu yelled running up to her. "Where's Popo?"

Nana's face beamed when she saw him. She gave him a hug, rubbing her face against his affectionately. "Pikachu! I missed you!" she cried. "Oh, Popo's on the roof. There's some primids up there but don't worry, he's got it."

Pikachu felt his heart thump so excitedly it was almost painful. He remembered how just minutes ago, he thought for sure they were going to lose. Now, with the arrival of so many new Smashers, victory was almost in their grasp.

"That's great! Thanks!"

He kept running until he was out the front door. Outside, the primid army had been reduced drastically. Pikachu reckoned there were only around two hundred of them left. That was because more and more allies kept joining the fight.

Pikachu recognized Falco and Wolf amidst the mob of soldiers. They were both yelling at each other and shooting with their blasters, without wasting a single shot.

"To your left!" Falco yelled.

Wolf snorted. "No need to tell me."

"Bet you can't take down more than me," Falco retorted, kicking off a primid's head.

Wolf smirked and reloaded his blaster. "Oh yeah?"

"Will you two shut up and fight?" Peach suddenly appeared, smashing her way through to the entrance with a frying pan. Luigi, Zelda, and Bowser were hot at her heels.

The blond princess looked at the two Cornerians with disdain. "I swear, those two haven't changed at all," she whispered to Zelda. As the group neared the door, they spotted Pikachu.

"Hey there, Pikachu!" Luigi tipped his hat at him as he ran into the mansion.

Bowser grunted something in his direction before going in. Pikachu assumed it was something along the lines of "out of my way."

Something seemed to be distracting Zelda. The Hyrulian Princess scanned over the battlefield worriedly before turning to go inside. She gave him a quick nod. "Greetings, friend."

Peach, the last to enter, smiled and bent down to give Pikachu a hug. "Good to see you again!" The princess turned to head inside when something stopped her in tracks and turned her back around "Oh, Pikachu! By any chance, have you seen Mario?"

"Mario? No…" Pikachu shook his head.

"Ah… alright." Peach looked around worried before running after the others. Pikachu frowned in confusion. Didn't Mario come with her?

He didn't have much time to think about it, for Pikachu suddenly felt himself being lifted into the air. Startled, he was about to run an electric current through his body when he recognized the scent of the person hugging him.

"Pikachu!" Marth cried, squeezing him tightly. "Pikachu! It's you!" The prince was so happy he even twirled around with him a few times before setting him down.

Pikachu shook his fur. "Hello, Marth!" he chirped.

He suddenly spotted primids running up from behind the prince. Pikachu was about to summon a thunderbolt when he heard a furious yell getting louder as someone got closer. A man crashed down violently behind Marth, sending the primids flying in every direction with a swing of his sword.

"Marth, focus! Now's not the time for you to be greeting everyone." The swordsman lifted his golden sword onto his shoulder. A bandana kept his spikey hair out of his vision as he carefully scanned the battlefield.

"Come on! We're helping out Olimar!" Ike turned and grinned at Pikachu before dragging Marth off.

Pikachu knew he should help out too but he couldn't help giving himself a second to watch the battle before him. He remembered how just a day ago, he was still sleeping back in the Viridian Forest in his world. Never in a hundred years would he have known he would be seeing this before him.

How long had he waited to come back? How long have they all waited? Pikachu couldn't really remember anymore, for at the moment, as he watched the tide of the battle turned before him, he felt invincible.


End file.
